Hold Your Head High
by EmptySurface
Summary: Harry is a female Omega. The world at large seems to take this as a sign it can treat her however it wishes. Harry disagrees. Occasionally quite violently. Alpha/Beta/Omega. Fem!Harry.
1. Chapter 1

**So. This happened. First of all, I'd like to say that this will, EVENTUALLY, be a Harry Potter x KHR crossover, but it will be a long time until we see ANY KHR characters. You have been warned. Second, I'd like to say that the Alpha/Beta/Omega concept is really very fascinating and I wanted to make an attempt that wasn't purely porn. (that said, there will be M-rated scenes, but not for a long time coming. You have been warned.)**

 **In addition, I'd like to add that I've been a bit lazy with this story, so anything I haven't covered from 'canon' you should just assumed happened roughly the same. Thanks! :D**

 **Hold Your Head High**

 **Chapter 1**

Harry had never really thought about what she'd be, once the day came and she'd 'bloom into a woman' as one of her primary teachers had called it once.

Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon (and eventually Dudley, too) were Betas, and it wasn't like she had had much time to think about it, between her chores, school, running from bullies and surviving.

Then she found out she was a witch and went off to magical school where it seemed like it mattered even less.

All children were 'genderless' in a sense, until they hit puberty. You could still tell if it was a boy or a girl, obviously, but there was one more option, for either gender.

A boy could be either a Beta or an Alpha. Girls, a Beta or an Omega.

Harry had always sort of figured she'd follow the family tradition and turn out to be yet another Beta.

Then her first year at Hogwarts had come to an end, Harry had nearly died trying -and succeeding- to prevent Lord Voldemort from getting his hands on the Philosopher's Stone.

She'd said goodbye to Ron and Hermione on King's Cross and gone with Uncle Vernon back to Privet Drive, where she had been ushered up to Dudley's second bedroom.

A few, blissful weeks had been spent frightening Dudley with the threat of magic, until Dobby came for a visit.

The weeks after that were miserable enough on their own, confined to the room and only let out for bathroom breaks five minutes two times a day, but...

Harry cursed softly under her breath, because _of course_ she had to be an early bloomer.

She could only bless her luck that Madam Pomfrey had taken her aside before she went home and told her everything she might need to know about anything that might happen once Maturity set in. As if the Medi-Witch had seen this coming.

Maybe she had, Harry mused as she lay panting on the rickety bed, only Hedwig for company.

Before full, physical maturity, and most often before you had found an agreeable 'mate' the 'heat' you went through was short and comparatively mild. Just a day or so long.

But that didn't change the fact that it was uncomfortable and Harry was now an Omega.

She bit her lower lip as she tried to sleep despite the near-fever like state that made her feel flushed and far too warm.

She tried not to think about what others would think about her now. There were a lot of preconceptions about Omegas and Harry didn't like a single one of them. She was _not_ weak, she was _not_ meek and tactile and she was NOT SUBMISSIVE, thank you very much.

Harry may only be just about twelve years old, but she decided there and then, alone in Dudley's second bedroom during her first heat, that she would _not let anyone tell her who to be._ Ever.

She was Harry. Just Harry, and she wouldn't let anyone change that.

It would be difficult to hold on to that promise throughout the years, but Harry was stubborn. She'd tough it out, like with everything else.

-x-x-x-

Once she finally got rescued -Ron was an amazing friend and she'd never let him go- and taken to Ron's house, The Burrow, by him and his older brothers, Fred and George, she was very glad that none of them had Matured yet because if one of them had been an Alpha, they might have been able to smell her recently finished heat.

She'd later find out that she'd been naturally suppressing her sent since the start.

Ron's mother was rather overwhelming, but very nice. Harry could admit to some curiosity when she found out that Ron's parents were an Alpha, Omega couple. She spent a fair amount of time just observing them during her stay.

Mrs Weasley was not really the stereotypical Omega, other than the minor herd of children, and Harry took some measure of comfort from that. The fact that the woman seemed genuinely fond of her helped, too.

When they eventually got back to school, despite all the escapades and near-disasters, Harry pulled Ron and Hermione aside to quietly tell them that she was an Omega now.

She caught both their arms in between classes the first day, glancing around carefully before dragging them into an abandoned classroom and closing the door quietly behind her.

"What is it, Harry?" Ron asked curiously.

"Is this important?" Hermione asked, tucking a strand of her bushy hair behind one ear. "If we don't hurry, we'll be late to Charms."

"Er." Harry frowned studiously down on the floor. "I just, wanted to tell you that-" She mumbled the last few words softly enough that her two friends couldn't hear.

"What was that? I didn't hear you." Hermione prompted her, shifting her weight impatiently.

"Ah, I'm -I'm an Omega now." Harry scowled at the floor, feeling her face burn red.

When she dared to glance up, Ron gave her an uncomfortable shrug that stemmed more from embarrassment than any judgement on his part.

Hermione looked stunned and was staring at Harry as if all thoughts of Charms and Professor Flitwick reprimanding them for being late had disappeared from her head.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I was rude, Harry!" She finally exclaimed, giving her an apologetic smile. "Don't worry, I'll read up all about Omegas in the library and compile a list for you to read as soon as classes are over." She promised, and looked surprised but pleased when Harry pulled her into a brief hug.

Ron hugged her back tightly when she did the same to him.

And that was that for a while.

(Other than Hermione's offended outrage when she came back from the library, ranting angrily about the horrible bias against Omegas, sexism and outright prejudice.

Harry had had to tell her to calm down, tell her that she didn't care about that, not right now.

"Please just give me the facts you've found?" She asked pleadingly.

Hermione huffed, uncrossed her arms and launched into a lecture about what all of this could mean for Harry in the future.)

Then the petrifications started, the students got more and more scared of the Heir of Slytherin and Harry found herself under a whole lot of attention that had nothing at all to do with her early Maturation or her being an Omega.

Things got worse when Hermione was petrified.

Her peers no longer thought her capable of attacking her fellow students, but Hermione was a virtual statue in the Hospital Wing and it was just Harry and Ron now.

Then Ginny was taken and they had to go after her.

When all was said and done, the diary destroyed and Harry was scarred but alive, she went to the Hospital Wing one calm afternoon to talk to Madam Pomfrey.

"Madam Pomfrey?" She asked into the seemingly empty Wing.

All the petrification victims had been revived and the rest of the school was out celebrating on the grounds, enjoying the sunshine.

"Miss Potter." Madam Pomfrey greeted when she came striding out of her office. Her eyes raked up and down Harry's body, looking for any kind of injury, but when she found none, settled for meeting her gaze. "Is there anything I can help you with, dear?"

"Um, can we talk?" Harry asked, feeling her cheeks brighten with an embarrassed blush as she fidgeted. "In private?"

"Of course, come here, Miss Potter." Madam Pomfrey said, leading her into her office, where she guided Harry to a padded armchair and had handed her a steaming cup of tea before Harry had been able to do more than blink. "Now, what was the matter?"

"Ah, last year." Harry began haltingly, blowing carefully on her tea. "You told me all about, um, Maturing?" Despite her best effort, the sentence ended on a questioning note. Her blush deepened.

"So it did happen last summer. I thought it might." Madam Pomfrey nodded slightly to herself and took a sip from her own cup. Harry was grateful for her business-like, professional demeanour. "Your body showed a few early signs when I healed you after that Philosipher's Stone nonsense." She explained at Harry's confused expression.

"Oh."

"And your questions, dear?" Madam Pomfrey prompted kindly when Harry remained silent after that.

"Hermione read that you're supposed to have about two heats a year, most likely more once you're older, but," She hesitated a moment, but at Pomfrey's patient, warm expression, Harry pressed on. "But I just had the one last summer and it's been nearly a year."

The real question was left unsaid but not unheard.

"Well," Madam Pomfrey began slowly, putting her tea cup down and folding her hands together on her desk. "Cases of Early Maturation, such as in your case, Miss Potter, are somewhat rare, but it isn't unheard of at all that there will be just one heat the first few years, until your body is ready to deal with more of them." The Medi-Witch lectured. "And once you've reached physical maturity, you might have four or even five of them a year."

Harry blanched slightly at the thought, but nodded to show that she was listening.

"Now, I was prepared to tell you about how to mask -or suppress is more accurate- your scent, but you seem to have mastered that already." The woman said, taking a deep whiff in Harry's general direction and giving her a playful wink.

Harry smiled slightly, but wasn't sure what she meant.

"I haven't really done anything?" She admitted. "I just really, really didn't want anyone to notice." Harry admitted, a little shamefaced to admit it. She wasn't _ashamed_ of herself for being an Omega, she just didn't want anyone to look at her differently because of it.

Madam Pomfrey frowned slightly in thought, but didn't look worried. "It does happen naturally for some people, same with Alphas."

"Um, Madam Pomfrey." Harry stared down at her empty tea cup. "Are _you_ an Omega?"

The grown witch was silent a while before she answered. "As a matter of fact, I am. You will find, Miss Potter, that there is a lot of bias against us, perhaps especially in the Wizarding world. The profession I chose is one of the few where that bias might work _for_ you, instead of against." She sighed a little. "I won't lie, my dear, but once the rest of your year-mates start going through their Maturation, and your own status gets out, people _will_ treat you in a manner that you won't like or approve of." She warned seriously.

Harry scowled. "They're gonna want me to be all 'meek' and 'tactile' and stuff like that." She muttered crossly. She wasn't at all fond of the idea. More the part where other people superimposed their own expectations on her than the personality traits themselves.

Madam Pomfrey's lips twitched slightly. "Exactly. And I must warn you that once some of the boys begin to mature into Alphas, there will be a lot of pheromones thrown around and you and your fellow Omegas will be more affected than the rest of the students."

Harry narrowed her eyes in thought. That sounded like a severe understatement, somehow. Harry was only twelve, but even _she_ knew that a bunch of immature, teenaged Alphas gathered in one place would be more than chaotic until everyone had gotten used to it.

"I hope Malfoy won't turn out to be an Alpha." She scowled.

Madam Pomfrey chuckled. "His father and Grandfather were both Alphas and it is a dominant trait in the Malfoy family, so I believe it would do you good to prepare yourself for that outcome from the start, my dear."

Harry's scowl deepened. "Just perfect. I bet, in two years, my life will be hell."

Madam Pomfrey leaned over her desk to pat her comfortingly on the shoulder and that was that.

Nothing anyone could do about it right now anyway.

-x-x-x-

Third year saw yet another threat to Harry's life. This time in the form of a prison escapee named Sirius Black. It _also_ saw Hermione Maturing into a Beta, much to her disappointment and vexation.

"We're still gonna fight against Omega Prejudice together, Harry, don't doubt it." Hermione declared the moment she got back from the Hospital Wing. "Well make all the stuffy, old-fashioned, _bigoted_ people see sense before you know it." She promised hotly, wiping tears from her eyes with clear annoyance. "Damn these hormones." She hissed, hugging Crookshanks closer to her chest.

Harry gave the ugly cat a commiserating look, but nodded along to her emotional friend's words nonetheless.

Ron steered well clear of Hermione for a week after her emotional outburst that prompted her visit with Pomfrey, and their fight about Crookshanks and Scabbers was put on temporary hold until Ron was certain that Hermione was feeling alright again.

Harry was certain that she was cursed, because shortly before Christmas, Malfoy Matured into an Alpha, and was strutting around the castle like he owned the place, spreading his stink around and Harry swore she couldn't go anywhere without having it clogging her nose.

Sure, the older students had been a pain all of last year, trying to woo either Alphas or Omegas by releasing their pheromones as if it was some sort of competition, but at least she hadn't been stuck in the same classroom with _them_!

Harry had barely been able to get through Potions without wanting to get up, march over there and smack Malfoy in the face for his rude disregard for other people! It came to the point where even Snape sent the _utter child_ annoyed glances when he thought no one was watching.

Hermione, being a Beta, wasn't as sensitive to it all as Harry was, but even she had been wrinkling her nose in disgust at the overwhelming stink.

Then Blaise Zabini came back from Christmas Holiday smelling faintly like Alpha, and he -somehow- managed to curb Malfoy somewhat. Probably with the acute threat of violence, since the two boys presumably shared a dorm.

Either way, Harry was tempted to either get him a belated Christmas present or walk up to the boy and _hug_ him, she was that grateful.

The whole Gryffindor, Slytherin situation would make that rather awkward, though, so she tactfully refrained.

Then she found out Sirius Black had broken out of Azkaban, horrible Wizarding prison, for a very specific reason. Namely to kill Harry Potter. Her.

 _Then_ she found out, after a series of dramatic events that threatened to give her a headache, that Sirius Black was not just her _Godfather_ but had never wanted to kill her, had broken out of a Dementor infested Hell to protect her from Ron's rat.

Scabbers turned out to be Peter Pettigrew, rat animagus extraordinaire! And incidentally also the wizard who had betrayed her parents to Voldemort.

The coward.

Harry got a few precious minutes where she had a proper parent. Where she would get away from the Dursleys and could live with someone who actually loved her, would do anything for her.

"You're an Omega, aren't you?" Sirius asked quietly as they walked through the tunnel back from the Shrieking Shack. Harry turned wide, wide eyes on her godfather. "Dogs have excellent sense of smell."

"Right." Harry sighed. Animagi were rather weird, if you asked her. Wait, this must mean that professor Lupin knew, too, didn't it?

Sirius cracked a crooked grin at her disgruntled look.

"You know, that was very similar to your mother's reaction, after her Maturation." He told her and Harry practically lit up. "Lily was generally really unimpressed with the over-all population, and didn't take kindly to anyone being degrading to her over being an Omega."

"There aren't that many who knows yet." Harry told him quietly, feeling strangely proud to be an Omega like her mother. There weren't only Betas in her family! "Were my dad an Alpha?" She asked, even though he must have been, since he married her mum.

It wasn't unheard of for Betas to have relationships with either Alphas or Omegas, but they very rarely lasted more than a few years at most.

"He was." Sirius nodded, the crooked smile widening slightly. "He was a bit of a prat after he first Matured, but it settled with age."

Harry blinked. The thought of Malfoy popped up in her mind's eye and Harry wrinkled her nose slightly. Sirius gave a hoarse chuckle.

Then there wasn't much time for talking and reminiscing about her parents.

After everything, professor Lupin's misadventures á la werewolf, Pettigrew's escape, the Dementor attack, the time-turner, Harry would still go back to the Dursley's, Sirius was on the run and nothing had really changed.

But she had a godfather now, and Harry had the feeling that this summer would be better than the last.

Aunt Marge would hopefully not feel up to visiting again while Harry was there, staying away until she had turned seventeen. It was obvious in Harry's head that she would leave Privet Drive for good the moment she could do so without being hunted down by the authorities.

-x-x-x-

Fourth year got off on a less than perfect start.

The Quidditch World Cup was amazing. Right up until it wasn't.

Harry got her first glimpse of Death Eaters and there was a muggle family being tortured and taunted high up in the air above them, accompanied by raucous laughter and jeers.

The Dark Mark, wild accusations, Winky the House-Elf, her stolen wand and the list went on. When Harry, Ron and Hermione finally got back to Hogwarts, there was a foreboding anticipation hanging in the air that everyone else seemed happy to ignore.

Shortly after 1st of September, Ron went through his Maturation, coming back to them as a Beta. Harry politely pretended not to notice Hermione's happy, relieved sigh once he told them.

She didn't have long to think about it, though, because then the Triwizard Tournament kicked off.

The feeling of dread spreading throughout her when her name came out of the Goblet of Fire was something she never wanted to experience again.

Then Ron decided to be a complete and utter _prat_ and wilfully did not to believe her when she told him she hadn't put her name in.

Along with the rest of the school, really. Who knew Hufflepuffs could be so malicious and vindictive?

Her only allies turned out to be Hermione, Fred and George (both having matured just before the summer, Alphas, both of them) and surprisingly Neville Longbottom, a fellow Gryffindor.

Most of their classmates had gone through their Maturation now, with a few late-bloomers making up the exceptions here and there.

Harry wasn't ignorant of the speculative looks she was getting in the hallways -even before the Goblet of Fire fiasco on Halloween- as people wondered what she'd Mature into.

"You know they'll find out eventually." Hermione told her, a worried expression on her face as they were making a list of spells for her to practise before the First Task. Mostly _Accio_ , though.

"I know." Harry sighed. "I have a feeling that it won't exactly get better when they do." She added darkly. Hermione grimaced, but didn't contradict her.

Surprisingly, she was approached by Fred and George about a week later.

"You know, Harry-kins." George said as they sidled up to her as she was walking up to the Owlery on her own, Hermione having gone to the library for some additional research. "Since George and I Matured," He paused dramatically here, "We've noticed something quite interesting."

"Oh?" Harry replied distractedly, fiddling with the letter to Sirius she held in her hands. "And what's that, George?"

Fred smiled. "Despite what all the morons around here think, you've already Matured, haven't you?"

Harry froze imperceptibly, for half a second, before she continued on her way as if nothing had happened. "What makes you say that?" She asked in an even, neutral voice.

"Mostly the way you act." Fred said seriously, both of them having dropped the playful air now. "But also the way you smell."

George nodded. "It's very faint, and we can't detect it all the time, but there's definitely an Omega scent on you sometimes." He frowned. "How are you doing that, by the way? If you truly are an Omega, then you should smell like one all the time."

Harry sighed, looked around, but the twins had chosen well when and where to confront her, because the corridor was deserted aside from the three of them.

"It's possible to mask your scent, you know." She told them, turning to look at them properly, eyebrows slightly raised. "Not everyone walks around stinking up the place wherever they go." She smirked ever so slightly when the two looked vaguely uncomfortable. She, personally, found Fred and George to smell rather pleasant. All cheerful warmth and unconditional support, a little like the Burrow, but mostly like themselves.

"Something to work on." Fred muttered, exchanging a look with George. "But how did _you_ do it?"

Harry looked from Fred to George and back again before she answered with a small sigh. "Madam Pomfrey told me that some people know how to mask their scent naturally, from the start. I'm one of them." She paused, before forging on. Fred and George were friends, and had _always_ had her back and tried their best to protect her from the rest of the school's scorn and fear. "I mean, I didn't really fancy _everyone_ knowing that I was an Omega when I was _twelve_."

Fred and George both stared at her for the longest time, the blood slowly draining out of their faces, making their freckles stand out starkly against the rest of their skin.

"So when we got you from your Aunt's house..." George tapered of leadingly.

The bright blush on Harry's face was a dead give-away and she grimaced unhappily and gave a reluctant nod.

"Matured that summer." She muttered vaguely.

The twins glanced at each other for the longest time, a whole conversation in that single look, before they nodded, as if coming to a decision of some sort.

"We've got your back, Potter." Fred declared, slinging an arm over her shoulders, making Harry stare at him with bemusement.

"Yeah. We always wished we had another little sister instead of Ron." George added cheerfully, slinging his arm over her shoulders too, so that they were boxing her in.

With a short laugh, Harry continued on towards the Owlery, the two redheads falling into step on either side of her.

"For obnoxious Alphas, you two are alright." Harry told them with a teasing grin, making the two affect offended cries of wounded Alpha pride.

.

The First Task arrived with much fanfare.

Harry hadn't been able to sleep properly since she found out just _what_ the Task would be about. And she seriously loved Hagrid; she'd have to get him something awesome next Christmas.

Because, DRAGONS.

They had to get passed _dragons_.

No, not just dragons, NESTING MOTHER DRAGONS!

Because, apparently, just a dragon wasn't difficult enough! Oh, no! She dearly wanted to find out which idiot at the Ministry had thought up _that_ particular idea, and give them a punch to the face and a bloody dressing down that would make them rue the day they were born!

Merlin damn them all.

Harry paced inside the tent as she waited for her turn. At least she'd given Hermione a very tight hug (goodbye) in case she was burnt to a crisp via bloody dragon fire.

Viktor Krum kept giving her weird glances, so it was something of a relief when he finally left to take a go against his Chinese Fireball.

In the end, she survived. Even if the Hungarian Horntail had given her a nice little wound on her shoulder with it's tail, which Madam Pomfrey had healed but told her would leave a scar. Harry had nodded, too happy the Task had been over with that she hadn't particularly cared.

(It was first afterwards that she'd realise why Pomfrey had looked so apologetic; the Mate Mark was most commonly placed on the shoulder. But at least she had two shoulders, so she wouldn't worry about it.)

A very pale Ron had approached her afterwards. "Someone is definitely trying to bloody kill you." He had told her in a shaky voice and pulled her close for a hug, mindful of her sore shoulder.

Harry had smacked him on the chest and hugged him back, pretending like the tears in her eyes were from the pain and told him to _please_ never do that again. "I need you, Ron. You're supposed to be on _my_ side." She told him thickly, voice muffled slightly by his shoulder.

Hermione watched the reunion from off to the side, wiping at her eyes with a tearful smile.

"You're both idiots." She declared when their reunion was done. "Let's go back to the Common Room; I think the Twins are planning a surprise party for you."

"Yeah." Harry said with a soft laugh, treading her arms through Ron and Hermione's, pulling them back with her. The whole way up to the castle, they speculated about the Golden Egg and the Second Task.

Then she was told that there would be a _Ball_ of all things, and oh, Miss Potter, you will need to bring a date, because you'll open the Ball together with the rest of the Champions!

Harry had felt like breaking down in hysterical laughter when McGonagall had dropped _that_ particular bomb. She could only take so much stress before she snapped, you know. Not that the rest of the castle seemed to care.

The excitement just grew from there, and Harry could only dread the approaching nightmare. She didn't even know who to ask. She wasn't prepared for someone to approach _her_ to ask first, though.

Which might be just why that is exactly what happened.

"Miss Potter." A deep, vaguely familiar voice asked her as she, Ron and Hermione were headed towards the library yet again once classes were over with for the day.  
Harry turned around automatically, prepared to endure yet more insensitive questions or accusations of cheating.

Instead, she found herself blinking at Blaise Zabini.

"Er, yes?" She asked haltingly, having been caught entirely flat-footed. The Slytherins only addressed her to taunt her, if they weren't ignoring her existence altogether. "Can I help you, Zabini?"

She could hear Hermione hissing something at Ron behind her, followed by a muted 'Ow!' in Ron's voice, but she resisted the temptation of glancing over her shoulder to check what was going on.

Blaise eyed her neutrally for the longest time and Harry was beginning to think that this may turn out to be some sort of prank after all when he finally opened his mouth.

"I would like to ask if you would like to accompany me to the Tournament Ball." Blaise said, looking faintly bored with the conversation if not for the spark of intense interest in his dark eyes.

Harry stared at him, the words not computing at all for the longest time. In the end, someone -Hermione- kicked her in the leg and she awkwardly cleared her throat.

"Um." She began intelligently. She most of all wanted to ask 'Why?' but settled for, "You know I have to open the Ball with the other Champions, right?"

Blaise nodded, not looking surprised at all. "I did take it into consideration, but it isn't an inconvenience."

"Right." Harry replied faintly, unable to tear her eyes away from the boy. "Why?" The question was out of her mouth before she could stop it and Harry bit back a wince. "I mean, we haven't even talked before, so... why ask me? I'm in Gryffindor, you know."

"I am well aware, Miss Potter." Blaise said, and there was a patient note to his voice that would have made her bristle if it wasn't for the fact that she was still too shocked. "I am asking you because you are the lesser of two evils." At Harry's confused look, he reluctantly elaborated. "I do not think it has escaped your notice that I am an Alpha." He paused expectantly and Harry nodded. "Well, the available Omegas in Slytherin are all quite... _tenacious_ ," He sounded quite drably diplomatic when he said that and Harry's lips twitched. "Not to mention the Omegas in the other houses. As the Girl-Who-Lived, no one can openly criticize my decision to ask you, and should you accept, I will be able to spend the night in at least bearable company _and_ get away from the rabid she-wolves."

Harry snorted. "Have you tried growling back at them?" She asked sarcastically while she seriously thought about it. Zabini wasn't fancying her, he had made that perfectly clear. But it wasn't like Harry had anyone she was interested in either, and this _would_ solve her problem. As far as Alphas went, Zabini seemed like the decent sort, too, which was always a bonus. "What are your expectations?" She eventually asked, feeling like she was discussing business terms, oddly enough.

Zabini smiled, and yes, Harry had eyes and could see how handsome he was. Didn't mean she'd giggle and drool over him like an idiot, though.

"We would dance, converse politely. If we find ourselves in disagreeable company, we could decide to separate and return to our respective friends without any social repercussions once dinner and a few more obligatory dances have been cleared."

Harry pondered it for another second, before she nodded. "Agreed. I won't stand for any Alpha idiocy, though." She added with slightly narrowed eyes.

Zabini raised an eyebrow, as if he had no idea what 'Alpha idiocy' was supposed to be.

"No strutting around like I'm a bloody price you've won. No stinking up the place without good reason, and I'd appreciate it if you treated me like a real person. Which you've admittedly done surprisingly well, so far."

Zabini blinked before a slow smile began to spread across his face. "I have a feeling that we will get along just fine, Miss Potter."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, please call me Harry if we're doing this thing. You sound like one of the professors when you call me that." She grimaced, but was happy to see Zabini incline his head.

"Which means you will address me as Blaise, of course."

"Of course." Harry answered dryly. "It's a date then." She said and waved Blaise goodbye as she turned back to her friends.

The moment the Slytherin boy was out of hearing range, Ron grabbed her arm and hissed, "Are you out of your mind!? He's the enemy!"

"He presented a perfectly agreeable suggestion and I haven't heard you giving any better ones the last few days!" Harry hissed back, yanking her arm out of Ron's hand.

"What if he's planning to stand you up?" Ron asked darkly, glaring after Zabini, as if wanting to turn back and hex him.

"Then I'll be just as much without a date as before he asked me." Harry said tiredly. She was so sick of all this already.

"You could have gone with me!" Ron snapped back after a seconds pause.

Harry stared at him. "You really wanna go with me?" She asked evenly, already knowing the answer.

Ron's distasteful grimace said it all. "It would be like going with Ginny." He muttered, looking vaguely green for a moment there. "Never mind, then." He added and they walked the rest of the way to the library in silence.

Hermione smiled at her behind Ron's back and gave her a thumb's up and a wink, though.

The Yule Ball itself felt like a bigger obstacle than the Dragon had, honestly, the closer it got.

When the day finally arrived, Harry hadn't spoken another word with Blaise and the two of them had gone back to acting like they had never spoken. That suited Harry perfectly well, so she didn't mind.

Five hours before they Ball was set to begin, Hermione dragged her up to the girl's dorm and they quickly showered and started on getting ready.

Mrs Weasley had gotten Harry lovely dressrobes, elegantly cut in an emerald green that matched her eyes perfectly.

The most time was spent on taming her and Hermione's hair, and then make-up. Something that was mostly new ground for both of them. For once, it was a good thing they were sharing dorms with Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. They gladly helped, tittering and giggling the whole time.

They kept asking who Harry and Hermione were going with, but never waited long enough for them to actually answer, so it wasn't a problem keeping the not-secret.

When they were finally ready and returned to the Common Room, it was largely empty. All the boys had evidently migrated down to the Entrance Hall already. Something Harry found herself grateful for.

She wasn't at all sure she looked as good as Hermione, Lavender and Parvati insisted she did.

Her hair had been mostly pulled away from her face and done up in a simple but elegant knot on the back of her head. Not quite the same as Hermione's, because Harry still had a few locks framing her face and distracting from the lightning bolt on her forehead.

Her glasses had been discarded for the night, too: Hermione had owled her parents for contact lenses for Harry a month ago. She'd gotten a fierce hug for that one alone.

Her look had been finished off with a simple touch of make-up that was hardly noticeable.

"Just taking off the glasses is almost enough." Lavender had said with muted envy. "Look at your eyelashes!"

"Let's go?" Harry glanced at Hermione, who nodded. The usually bookish girl looked radiant. "Going to tell me who you're going with yet?"

"You'll see soon enough." Hermione said, a definite spring in her step as they managed to pass through the opening to the tower without messing up their hair.

"You know who _I'm_ going with." Harry complained half-heartedly.

Arriving at the Entrance Hall, Harry was taken aback by the mass of different colours. It was a stark difference to the usual black of the Hogwarts uniform.

All the dressrobes made it look like there was a flock of exotic birds milling around instead of students.

Harry and Hermione exchanged nervous looks at the top of the last stair, and Hermione took her hand to squeeze it tightly for one last moment, before they took deep breaths and descended towards the waiting masses.

People were staring.

But it wasn't the usual sort of looks that Harry was used to.

Now that all the girls were wearing actually flattering clothes, Harry could see that she was a fair bit more developed than the majority of their year-mates, and she fiercely squashed down the surge of self-consciousness.

It's not like it was her fault not all the other girls had... grown into their chests yet. Or their hips.

Urgh. Was McLaggen ogling her chest? And hips alternately, apparently.

Harry made a note to jinx him later for the blatant disregard and objectifying.

With a mental shake of the head, Harry began to scan the crowd for Blaise, feeling a bit more nervous about their 'deal' now, but was determined not to think about it too much. She waved discreetly to Ron, who was near-gaping at her and Hermione in turn, and then continued her search.

When she finally found him, he was -of course- standing with the rest of his House mates, throwing continuous glances towards the stairs, no doubt looking for her.

Harry realised with amusement that he hadn't recognized her. Not that most people seemed to have.

Pasting a polite, pleasant smile on her face, Harry moved towards the Slytherin group.

And of course Malfoy was in the middle of it, a very pink Pansy Parkinson practically draped on his arm, giggling senselessly and emitting enough Omega pheromones to make Harry mildly dizzy. Of course, it might be in self-defence, to counter the particularly strong Alpha stink in the air tonight. Most of it in this area coming from Draco Malfoy, who seemed to be pestering her date.

"-seriously, Zabini, why won't you just _tell_ me who the bloody hell you're going with?" Malfoy was whining when she got within hearing range. "It's not like you're going with one of the Beauxbaton girls, or you'd have said something about it by now, you smug bastard." He added in a disgruntled mutter.

"Blaise." Harry greeted, perhaps a little more loudly than strictly necessary. "I believe you missed me coming down the stairs." She smiled a bit more genuinely when Blaise turned to her and his disinterested expression gave way for a widening of the eyes in genuine surprise.

Every single Slytherin in the group turned to blatantly stare at her. Hah! So much for the House of the 'sly' and the 'cunning'!

Pansy looked like she wanted to spit out a very rude, 'Who the hell are you!?' but managed to hold her tongue with visible effort.

"Harry?" Blaise asked very slowly, his gaze drawn, seemingly without conscious permission, to trail down her body before snapping back to her eyes, where they pointedly stayed.

Harry very determinedly kept smiling and gave a gracious nod. "You seem to have been too immersed in your company to have noticed me." She added with an amused glance at Malfoy, who was staring at her -chest? Really?- with a hanging jaw. It wasn't until Pansy elbowed him in the ribs with an offended air and pushed her own chest against Draco's arm that he snapped out of it.

"Potter?" He squinted dubiously at her, spitting out her surname like a favourite curse and Harry felt like rolling her eyes. "Scarhead?" He added, as if he still wasn't sure.

"Honestly, Malfoy. You thought up that oh, so clever 'nickname' when we were twelve; can't you think of anything a bit more imaginative by now?" She asked, voice dry enough to rival professor Binns'.

Blaise made a sound that was so soft she only heard it because she was standing right next to him, that sounded suspiciously like smothered laughter. Wait, when had Blaise tucked her hand into the crook of his arm!?

...pay attention, Potter!

Her words were met with another bout of stunned silence. Seriously, where was the childish but grantedly somewhat witty, snarky banter she was used to?

Malfoy slowly turned to stare at Blaise.

"Zabini, tell me you're not going with one of the few witches in our year that haven't even Matured yet?" He asked, most likely aiming for flat and incredulous, but he sounded distracted to Harry, who eyed him with some incredulity of her own.

Honestly, Fred and George had noticed she was an Omega by now and they weren't even in the same year as her!

Times like these made her genuinely wonder what the general student population spent their days doing, because they certainly weren't paying attention to most things. Not that she wanted her status to be widely known just yet, but come _on_!

She abruptly realised that the rest of the group were waiting with bated breath for her -anticipated- reaction, and Harry gave a slow blink, trying to figure out what the hell they were expecting.

"I do believe they were waiting for defensive outrage and or hurt." Blaise suggested into the silence, clear amusement in his voice.

"Ah, sorry to disappoint." Harry nodded. That made sense. Kind of. "Blaise, I do believe we should go wait closer to the doors, or McGonagall will have my head." She turned to her date, ignoring the increasingly annoyed and outraged expressions on her Slytherin classmates' faces.

"You might actually be right, Harry." Blaise replied pleasantly. "She's looming right over there, and I do believe she's been glaring in our direction several times in the last few minutes."

Harry turned back to Malfoy with a dazzling smile. "As always, it was nice talking to you, Malfoy. Truly enchanting conversation." And with a last nod to the group, Blaise lead her in McGonagall's direction.

They were silent for a few seconds as they walked, side by side, and Harry was trying to ignore the looks they were attracting.

She didn't know if it was her imagination or not that most of them were on her. Probably just paranoia, she decided when one girl very nearly burst into tears when she saw Blaise.

"You've been holding out on me, Potter." Blaise finally said softly, not looking at her.

Harry smiled. "I do believe that most people pay me too much attention to notice the actually important bits."

Blaise glanced at her with a raised eyebrow and Harry raised her own right back at him.

"I didn't even recognize you." He muttered under his breath and Harry snorted.

" _Ron_ didn't recognize me; I promise I won't hold it against you."

"Ah, yes. The youngest Weasley boy was looking particularly floored earlier." Blaise commented, something like light-hearted teasing hinted at in his tone.

"Careful, that's one of my best friends you're talking about, there." Harry cautioned mock-sternly. Well, there was a genuine warning in there; she wouldn't tolerate any outright mocking towards her friends, or Zabini would spend most of the evening on his own.

"Duly noted." Blaise nodded, having obviously gotten the message. "So what _is_ your deal with Malfoy, anyway? I've never bothered to listen to him rant about you long enough to actually figure it out."

Harry gave an inelegant snort. "Met him briefly before the first year in Diagon Alley. He was very rude, insulted one of my friends. Then I met him on the train, he was rude to me again and _incredibly_ rude to more of my friends. Then he practically demanded I be his friend while, and I'm not kidding, saying outright that I needed a proper babysitter -which was him- since I couldn't think for myself." Harry recounted quickly and succinctly. She'd had to repeat it often enough to Hermione by now to know it by heart, so she didn't even have to think about it.

Blaise winced. "That's... almost impressive." He admitted reluctantly. "All before the Sorting, too."

"Let's just say that Ron isn't the only one suffering from frequent foot-in-mouth syndrome, but at least Ron isn't _deliberately_ condescending and offensive about it." Harry said dryly.

There was an almost pained expression on Blaise's face and Harry patted him comfortingly on the arm. Hey, at least _she_ didn't have to live with the prat.

"Anyway, then there was the whole offensive 'obnoxious Alpha' routine he pulled in third year. That didn't endear him to me any more, I assure you. Even _Snape_ was annoyed with him at the end and I'm fairly sure Snape would let Malfoy get away with murder in his classroom and give _me_ detention for it even if I wasn't there." Harry realised that she was pulling a Hermione and was talking far too much to cover for her mounting nerves.

Blaise seemed to realise, because after a surprised pause at the start of her word vomit, he smiled slightly and patted her hand, the one tucked into his elbow.

"No one will really pay attention to the opening dance, you know?" He offered diplomatically.

Harry laughed quietly, a slightly hysterical note to it she was perfectly happy to ignore.

"You think? Because I'm fairly sure people have been staring at me more than usual, and I've been a pariah this year, if you hadn't noticed." She said, glancing around nervously. "Again." She added in a quiet mutter under her breath, because seriously, it was like second year all over again. Only _worse_ somehow, because she hadn't had Ron for half of it this time.

She was still alert enough to notice Blaise's incredulous glance and she turned to look at him questioningly.

In response, Blaise's eyes trailed down her body and Harry was too confused to bristle defensively. Yes, she knew the dress was a little tight, hugging her form, but it's not like Mrs Weasley would have known how much she'd have grown by now.

"You're honestly oblivious, Potter." Blaise said, but he sounded amused.

Harry frowned at him, wondering if she ought to be offended.

Instead, she tugged self-consciously on the dress, hoping to make it lie smoother over her hips. She'd noticed it wrinkled when she walked.

"I liked these dressrobes, I don't get what's wrong with them." She mumbled unhappily.

"Oh, for the love of- It's not the _robes_ that are the problem here." Blaise managed to sound amused and exasperated at the same time.

Harry scowled at him. "Then tell me what the hell the matter is, and stop dancing around the bloody subject." She growled back at him, tightening her grip on his arm warningly. This was coming dangerously close to him being an insufferable Alpha.

Blaise actually, honest to Merlin, rolled his eyes at her. Harry was too surprised to be properly offended.

"Merlin, Potter." He sighed, grinning a little, making one of the girls standing close to them squeak. Harry and Blaise both ignored it with practised ease. "I'm trying to tell you you're beautiful and you take it as an insult!"

Harry, having already had a retort ready on the tip of her tongue, froze with her mouth halfway open when Blaise's words actually registered.

She slowly closed her mouth, still staring wide-eyed up at a smug-looking Blaise. She could feel the heat radiating off of her cheeks, but there wasn't really anything she could do about it.

"Kneazel got your tongue?" He asked when she still hadn't said anything a minute later.

"Shut up!" She slapped his arm lightly. "I'm trying to accept that a Slytherin just gave me a compliment!" She paused. "That a _boy_ gave me a compliment." She amended with a grimace, eyeing Blaise like she was wondering what the hell was wrong with him.

Blaise affected an offended look. "Oh, come now, Potter. I can't possibly be the first male to ever give you a compliment!" He smiled. It slowly faded when Harry just stared at him. "Honestly?"

He sounded as close to shocked as Harry had even imagine he could be.

She shrugged. "I'm the Girl-Who-Lived, Zabini. I'm not a real person to most of the wizarding world, just this... _ideal_ that they imagine when they think of Voldemort and his demise."

Hermione had ranted about it enough over the years that Harry had come to the realisation that it must be true. The people who actually saw _her_ were few and far between.

Blaise stared at her, a serious expression on his face which had been grinning a minute earlier.

"Never thought of it like that." He eventually muttered.

McGonagall chose that moment to declare that the Yule Ball was starting and could the Champions and their dates please step forward?

Harry ended up standing right behind Hermione. She blinked.

Hermione's date was Krum? She bit back a wince; Ron would not be happy about that. She just knew it.

"How's it going?" Hermione asked over her shoulder, sparing a quick smile for Blaise before focusing on Harry, who grimaced.

"Fine."

Hermione narrowed her eyes on her. "You would say that even if you were bleeding out." She accused.

Harry sent her a blinding smile in response and Hermione didn't have time to say anything else before they were moving forward to enter the Hall for the opening dance.

Harry took a few deep breaths, unconsciously tightened her hold on Blaise, who sent her a reassuring glance and then they were dancing.

It turned out to be a surprisingly pleasant evening.

"You're surprisingly pleasant company, Zabini." Harry said after dinner had been cleared and they'd moved back to the dance floor.

"No need to sound so surprised." Blaise joked, but looked at her with a thoughtful air.

Harry was momentarily distracted when they danced passed professor Moody, who was leading professor McGonagall with a surprising amount of grace for a man with a wooden leg, and professor Dumbledore, who was dancing with Madam Maxime. Their conversations were fairly entertaining, and she very much didn't want to think about Moody's eye being able to see through her clothes.

Disturbing thought and she couldn't spare the blood for the massive blush it'd give her, so Harry forcefully ignored it.

What the hell did it matter what sort of socks she was wearing? No one but her and Hermione would see them! (And professor Moody, apparently, but she wasn't thinking about that!)

When she turned back to Blaise, he was staring at her with wide, wide eyes, looking like he'd received the shock of his life.

Harry frowned slightly and looked around in an attempt to see whatever it was that Blaise had obviously noticed.

Then she had to hurry to regain her balance when Blaise stopped dancing to tow her away from the dance floor.

Confused, and beginning to grow a little alarmed, Harry stumbled after her date. Who was behaving rather absurdly. She hadn't seen anything that could have upset him this much, unless he had stared too long at Mad-Eye's face...

Harry shook the ridiculous thought from her head and focused on Blaise when he pulled her to a stop by the wall in a spot that was a fair bit more private than the dance floor.

He pulled his wand and Harry tensed, but he merely flicked it towards the middle of the room -and the thickest part of the crowd- with a muttered spell and then focused fully on Harry.

"What's the matter with you?" She asked, trying to figure out what could have happened.

Instead of saying anything, Blaise pulled her closer to him and leaned his face down towards the side of her neck.

Harry had drawn her wand and stepped away from him before he could do more than take a deep- Her eyes widened. He hadn't tried to do anything... inappropriate. Not really. He'd _smelled_ her!

"Potter." Blaise began, eyes still wide. "You're an Omega."

Harry's eyes widened as she stared up at the shell-shocked Blaise, only capable of meeting his gaze for the longest time, her brain having completely frozen.

Shit.

"You're being an obnoxious Alpha." Harry blurted before she could think of anything better to do and turned on the spot to march away from him and find Hermione.

"Potter!" Blaise hissed, taking hold of her hand and pulling her back towards him, taking care not to pull hard enough to hurt her. "You can't just _walk away_!"

"Watch me!" Harry hissed back, trying to tug her hand out of Blaise's grip, but he tightened it response and she glared up at him, wondering if she'd be forced to curse him to let her go. "Let me go!"

"Not until we talk about this!" Blaise objected in a loud whisper. "When the hell- everyone thinks you haven't Matured yet!"

"Yes! And I'd very much like it if they kept thinking that a while longer." Harry scowled at him, giving up on trying to reclaim her hand. For now.

Blaise stared at her as if he couldn't possibly understand her reasoning.

"Why?" He asked, proving her right.

She practically sneered at him. "Do you really have to ask? How do the average wizard treat an Omega, Blaise? Huh?" She gave him a second to think about it. "Now combine that with the fact that I'm the Girl-Who-Lived." She rolled her eyes in contempt at the ridiculous title.

Blaise was silent a long while, his grip on her hand slowly loosening, until her let her go altogether.

He let out a heavy sigh and pulled a hand through his hair, eyeing her like he had never truly seen her before.

"You can mask your scent. Almost completely." He muttered. More stating fact than asking.

Harry nodded anyway. "I'm a natural; been able to do it since the start." She waved a hand dismissively; that wasn't really important right now. What _was_ important was that Zabini knew her secret. Would he keep it or spread the word as fast as possible?

"When was the 'start'?" He asked next, voice quiet and serious and Harry scowled at him again. Why couldn't he let her be angry with him? If it was Malfoy who had discovered it, she'd be happy to hate his guts and curse him into oblivion while she was at it.

Blaise... was looking honestly lost. As if everything he'd ever known about her had been a lie and he'd been left floundering.

Okay, that sounded a bit dramatic. But still.

She stubbornly maintained her scowl at him, but crossed her arms defensively in front of her chest.

"When I was twelve, alright?"

"You went through your Maturity when you were _twelve_?" Blaise repeated, clarified, faintly. "During the school year?" He asked, looking like he was trying to remember everything he could about Harry that year. Yes, there was the wince. It felt like most people had forgotten all about the fact that practically the entire school had thought she was the Heir of Slytherin that year, she mused.

"No." Harry said shortly. "Before it, during the summer." She'd just about turned twelve, actually.

Blaise looked almost pained for a second, before he took a deep breath, briefly closed his eyes and his face smoothed out until it was the polite mask she was used to seeing around the castle. When he opened his eyes again, he held out his hand towards Harry.

"Would you honour me with this dance, Potter?" He asked in a painfully formal tone of voice.

Harry scowled at him but grudgingly placed her hand in his and let him lead her back to the dance floor.

When they were dancing again, Harry waited for him to start talking. In the end she lost her patience before Blaise cut to the chase.

"Look, you can't just not say anything after all that, alright?" She asked, tilting her head in the direction they'd just come from. "So what's it going to be, Zabini?" She asked in a voice that was much colder than she'd ever addressed him before. "Will this be all over the castle by breakfast tomorrow?"

"I won't tell anyone, Harry." Blaise eventually said and he sounded mainly... tired. And maybe a little bit amused.

"Why the bloody hell not? You have nothing to gain from it." She pointed out furiously, glaring off into the distance.

Blaise was quiet for a long while and the only reason Harry let him be this time was because he looked pensive, as if he was seriously contemplating what to tell her.

"Did you know that my mother is an Omega?" He asked, and Harry blinked at the non-sequiteur.

"No."

"Well, she is." Blaise frowned, as if this wasn't what he really wanted to say. He let out a sigh. "The thing is, Potter. Harry. I feel like you might have enough to deal with right now without adding on."

Harry gave him an incredulously stare. "You think?" Her voice was entirely flat, making Blaise grimace a bit apologetically.

"Either way, I don't think you'll be able to keep your secret for much longer regardless of what I do." He continued. At Harry's questioning look, Blaise cleared his throat awkwardly, actually blushing a little.

Harry stared at him with growing trepidation, suddenly not wanting to hear what he'd say next.

"If you were that early, then you've had just the one heat a year, right?" Blaise's voice was so low that she'd barely heard him and she was right in front of him. His lips had barely moved.

Harry _did_ hear him, though. And sincerely wished she hadn't. How did Blaise even know that when Hermione hadn't found anything about it in the Library books!?

Mortified, but unable to refute it, she stiffly turned her head to look away from him.

They danced in awkward silence after that, until Harry let out a frustrated sigh.

"The bottom line is that you'll keep it to yourself until it no longer matters, is that right?" She asked, stubbornly meeting his gaze head on. She was a damn Gryffindor, damn it!

"You have my word." He said, inclining his head slightly.

Satisfied by that answer, Harry realised that there was little she could do if he broke his promise other than meet out appropriate retribution.

Her musings were interrupted by a red-headed whirlwind before the current song could end.

"Excuse me, my scaly, slithering friend." A familiar voice asked with overly pompous care, making her think of Percy despite her best efforts. "May I steal your partner for this dance?"

"Yes." Harry cut in before Blaise had a chance to open his mouth. "Thank you for a lovely evening so far, Blaise. But I'm going to call on one of our clauses and call it a night, if that's agreeable to you."

Blaise graciously inclined his head and Harry took a perhaps foolish chance to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. His surprised look lured one last smile from Harry before she let Fred steal her away into a far more violent dance than the one she'd shared with Blaise.

"Was the Snakey Alpha boy bothering you?" Fred asked her seriously the moment they were sufficiently far away.

Harry grimaced. "He found out. You know."

Fred's eyes narrowed slightly as he craned his head to stare back at Blaise, who looked to be moving away from the dancing crowd.

"Need me an' Forge to take care of it?" He asked casually.

"You sound like it would be a professional hit." Harry laughed, but Fred merely smiled. "And we'll see." She said once she'd stopped chuckling. "He said he wouldn't tell anyone, but." She shrugged.

"We'll find out tomorrow." Fred nodded, as if he had just decided something and Harry was suddenly hoping that Blaise would keep his promise for an entirely different reason.

Seriously, Blaise was one of the few tolerable Alphas in the castle, Harry didn't want the twins to go after him too hard.

With a wild laugh, Fred whirled her away in a reckless chase after his twin, who was dancing just as wildly with Katie Bell.

-x-x-x-


	2. Chapter 2

**I have terrible self-control and I couldn't even wait a week. The the truth is, I have written slightly over 200 A4 pages of this story already, but I want to post the chapters somewhat evenly to give myself time to write more in peace. We shall see how that goes... I will _try_ to aim for about one chapter a week, but. As already established; my self-control is abysmal.**

 **Concerning this chapter! I have written basically everything solely from memory, and it's been a few years since I read the books, so any horrible mangling of canon is all on me. And I apologize in advance.**

 **Hold Your Head High**

 **Chapter 2**

The Second Task wasn't much better than the First.

Instead of a fire-breathing dragon, she'd have to survive submerged in the lake on the grounds for an hour. Somehow.

The night before the Task, Harry still hadn't figured out what to do, and she was seeing more and more elaborate pictures in her mind of how she'd be disqualified, or publicly ridiculed for her failure.

In the end, Dobby came to the rescue, handing her a handful of Gillyweed right before the Task began.

Seeing Ron, Hermione and a small, blonde child with a striking resemblance to Fleur drifting listlessly in the water damn near made her heart stop.

She might have let her imagination run away a little with her, but she didn't regret staying to make sure they all got to the surface safely.

In the other dangerous situations she had found herself in over the years, no one else would have conveniently stepped in to save the day if she failed, so it was a little like a reflex.

Or instinct, she'd later think, thinking back on it years after the fact.

The Third Task approached with alarming speed after that and Harry practised spells with Ron and Hermione until it felt like she would faint.

Which she ended up actually doing.

Ron and Hermione had rushed her to the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey told her something Harry absolutely didn't want to hear. Especially not shortly before the Task.

"I what?" Harry asked faintly, having to slowly sit down again or faint. Again.

"You're going to go into heat shortly." Madam Pomfrey repeated patiently, looking about as pale as Harry felt. Her face felt cold, as if all the blood had rushed away from it from one heartbeat to the next.

"But- but the Task?" Hermione asked anxiously, biting on one of her thumb nails.

Pomfrey sighed heavily, rubbing one hand over her face. Harry had never seen her so openly distraught.

"Weasley, fetch me Minerva, will you."

Ron fled the room without a word. Talks of Omega heats were obviously a tad too uncomfortable for him to readily deal with. He was a fourteen old Beta male, it could be forgiven.

"What do I do now?" Harry asked into the silence after the door had closed behind Ron, staring beseechingly up at Pomfrey, who had no ready answer for her.

When McGonagall finally arrived, Ron surprised Hermione by coming back into the room with her. He gave her an embarrassed but stubborn glare, as if to say that Harry's life was far more important than his frail manly pride.

Harry watched Pomfrey bring McGonagall up to speed, as if from a great distance. The stern woman had given Harry a quick once-over at her entrance, found nothing obviously wrong with her and then turned to the Matron. The longer Pomfrey talked, the paler McGonagall got.

"I- I didn't even know you were an Omega, Potter." She finally breathed, hand on her chest and looking a little too wide-eyed for Harry's comfort.

If her Head of House looked mildly panicked, it couldn't mean anything good for Harry.

"Merlin." The usually so composed woman covered her eyes with the palm of one hand. "What a time to go into heat!"

"I've always had impeccable timing, professor." Harry heard herself say, sounding far too calm for the situation.

McGonagall actually laughed.

Harry wasn't the only one staring at that, and she exchanged concerned glances with Ron and Hermione, who was still chewing anxiously on her thumb nail.

" _That_ is a debatable statement, my dear." The woman eventually sighed, rubbing at her eyes. "How long do we have until it really sets in, Poppy?"

"About a week, if we're lucky." Was Pomfrey's answer, after having cast yet another diagnostic spell at Harry.

Harry groaned. "Let's assume we're not." She buried her face in her hands. _Why_ was her body working against her!? "I've been having one heat a year up until now, is this _really_ necessary!? Right _NOW_!?" She glared up at the ceiling through her fingers, suddenly absurdly angry.

"Who're you talking to?" Ron chanced to ask.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Harry gripped her hair with frustrated despair. "How is this my life?" She asked no one in particular. She took a deep, calming breath and then turned to the two professors like she hadn't just had a minor hysterical breakdown. "So, we have a few days, a week at most, until I go into full, raging heat. What do we do? The Third Task is in three days."

Pomfrey made a small, choked off distressed sound that made Harry turn to her with a flat expression.

"Please tell me how this could become worse." Her voice was just as flatly unimpressed as her expression had promised it to be.

If it were any other student, any other situation, Pomfrey would have given them the dressing down of their life-time for the lack of respect.

"Stress is a factor, too, my dear." The Medi-Witch sighed. "It can either speed up the process or slow it. It all depends on which way you're genetically predisposed to go."

"Great." Harry had to close her eyes a moment, just to curse out her own body for trying to _kill her_! She hadn't known she was suicidal, Harry thought with near-maniacal, highly inappropriate hilarity.

"We can't even ask them to postpone the Task for extenuating circumstances." McGonagall muttered, standing with her eyes closed and massaging her temples, as if attempting to stave off a migraine.

"Why not, professor?" Hermione asked, dismayed.

Their Head of House laughed bitterly. "When the Tournament Rules were written, no one would have even _dreamed_ of an Omega competing, Miss Granger. Miss Delacour isn't suffering from the same problem as Miss Potter if only because I understand Veela can consciously postpone their heats until such a time that it is more advantageous."

"Damn convenient, that." Harry grumbled. She was -for just a brief moment- intensely jealous of Fleur, because _she_ wouldn't die due to having to go trough an insanely dangerous Task, _that Harry hadn't even wanted to be part of,_ while flushed with an oncoming heat. Then she remembered the very obvious drawbacks to Veela blood and quickly changed her mind.

"I'm going to have to notify the Headmaster, at least, Potter." McGonagall finally said and Harry nodded. She had already figured that would be the case. "Poppy, is there anything you can give her that will make sure the heat is postponed until the Third Task has been cleared?"

Madam Pomfrey grimaced. "There are a few options," Harry perked up hopefully, "but all of them have severe long-term side-effects."

"Like what?" Hermione asked anxiously. She had given up biting on her nails now to wring her hands instead.

"Extreme hormonal unbalance." Pomfrey gave Harry an apologetic glance. "In extreme cases, there have been reactions like growth impairment and even eventual infertility, especially before physical maturity."

Hermione looked aghast and Harry could easily admit that she wanted children one day. And 'extreme hormonal unbalance' sounded ominous enough on it's own that she didn't even want to know what that would mean for her.

She got a brief, crystal clear imagine of herself bursting into tears every other minute for weeks on end and suppressed a shudder.

"I think I'll take my chances with the heat." She stated evenly when the silence had been drawn out long enough. "If it gets to be too much, I can just flunk out of the Task." She tacked on optimistically.

The answering silence spoke enough on its' own how much that most likely wouldn't be possible. Someone had entered her name into the Tournament for a reason, and that reason hadn't revealed itself yet. Which meant that the Third Task was most likely the end goal.

Great.

Her life was amazing. Harry didn't have the first clue how anyone could ever be jealous of the Girl-Who-Lived when these were what her prospects were.

.

Three days later, the Third Task proceeded like planned. Under the very worried eyes of the Headmaster, professor McGonagall and her friends, Harry ran into the maze taking up the whole Quidditch pitch.

Oliver Woods would have probably had a heart-attack had he still attended Hogwarts, Harry mused, before the seriousness of the situation returned full force and she focused on the matter at hand.

The maze was dark and strangely not as heart-rendingly difficult as she had imagined.

In the end, Harry reached the Cup first. Her ankle was killing her and she absently wondered if Acromantulas were venomous, but the quickest way to get out of here now was to grab the damned Cup.

Then Cedric Diggory came careening into the clearing and Harry had never been particularly fond of him -a Beta, actually, but still somewhat obnoxious, if only because of how everyone else treated him- they ended up grabbing the Cup together.

Because why the hell not? Hogwarts would still be the clear winner and Harry figured all four champions really deserved to win, what with all the shit they'd had to go through.

So, grabbing it together with Cedric.

And then, when it was supposed to get better, when it was supposed to all be over.

Things got infinitely worse.

Harry found herself standing in a dark graveyard, with Cedric asking if it was all part of the Third Task from next to her, like a trusting puppy.

And then Cedric was dead and Harry had been tied to a tombstone before she'd been able to process anything.

Harry was staring with mounting dread and horror as Wormtail cut her arm, took her blood, cut off _his own arm_ and dumped it all in the massive cauldron he'd somehow dragged into the graveyard.

And then, he put the horrifying, infant-like bundle that was Voldemort into the sparkling liquid and Harry could only look on.

 _Please let it be dead, please let it have drowned_!

The words were a continuous litany in her head, repeating again and again as she stared at the cauldron.

It wasn't dead, though.

Shortly after, Lord Voldemort, in all his terrible glory, rose from within the depths of the cauldron. Restored to his former power.

For all that she had met him twice before, Harry was of the very firm opinion that his earlier appearances hadn't made him justice. But to be fair, a ghost-like shade and his sixteen year old memory could hardly compare to the real deal.

Pale white skin, snake-like features, long-fingered, spider-like hands and red, slitted eyes all made for enough material to suffice as nightmare fuel for life. And that wasn't even counting what happened next.

Harry watched, too numb to really appreciate her building panic, as Voldemort turned to Wormtail.

"Robe me." His voice was high and cold and sent shivers down her back.

Wormtail, sobbing and whimpering over the stump where his hand used to be, shuffled to comply with the clear order.

"Your arm, Wormtail." Voldemort continued when he had been dressed in simple black robes.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, Master." Wormtail sobbed, holding out his bleeding stump.

"Your other arm!" Voldemort hissed and Wormtail did as told with a pathetic whimper.

Harry felt nauseous. The man had chosen his own fate, in a way, but Wormtail was nothing if not pitiable.

Voldemort pressed his finger against the Dark Mark on Wormtail's left forearm and Harry's scar _burned_.

Silence returned to the graveyard. Well, Wormtail was still sobbing, desperately clutching his stump, but everything else was still with ominous anticipation.

Harry tried to test the ropes holding her firmly against the headstone pressed against her back, but neither the ropes or the supposed knots -with magic, you never knew if there _were_ any- gave way even a little.

Voldemort was standing patiently in front of Wormtail, waiting.

And then Harry heard the very recognizable sound of people arriving via appratition.

She swallowed thickly, increasing the focus she had on her own scent. She couldn't let out even a fraction of it right now.

Out of the surrounding shadows stepped several cloaked figures, wearing skull masks in front of their faces.

Harry was momentarily taken back to last summer, to the Quidditch World Cup.

Merlin, that felt like half a life-time ago.

"Master." One of the Death Eaters said, falling to his knees at Voldemort's feet, bending down to press his masked face to the hem of the Dark Lord's robes.

Voldemort made a sharp, dismissive motion with his hand, which made the Death Eaters fall into positions around them, with clear gaps in between them in places. As if waiting for late arrivals.

Harry sincerely hoped not.

Her chances of survival were looking slim enough already, she didn't need _more_ Death Eaters to arrive.

Voldemort shortly launched into a dialogue that Harry was only paying partial attention to, too busy trying to -somehow- figure out a way out of this.

Harry wanted to close her eyes and weep when Voldemort brought her to his Death Eaters attention, which was followed by plenty of jeers and catcalls that Harry stubbornly held her head high through and endured.

She was _fourteen_ , she did not have to be ashamed by anything that had happened today. She was woefully outclassed and she knew it. It wouldn't surprise her to learn that most of these men had half a century on her, age-wise.

" _Crucio_." Voldemort's curse slammed into her and Harry _screamed_.

It was pain unlike any she had ever experienced. Red hot knives stabbing her all over repeatedly until she lost all sense of time and self.

When Voldemort released the curse, Harry was hanging limply from the ropes tying her to the tombstone, which were the only things holding her upright.

The thing she noticed first was the stillness among the Death Eaters, the way a little over half of them had straightened and the focus they'd fixed her with made her skin crawl.

One of them -Alphas, she realised with sluggish horror- growled lowly, breaking the spell they'd been under.

Harry could only stare with growing terror as they stalked towards her.

That's when she realised.

She wasn't masking her scent any more.

As quickly as humanly possible, Harry slammed down on her pheromones, snuffing the scent out of the air from one moment to the next, but it was too late.

All reason left her, chased out by pure, undiluted panic.

The Alphas were still advancing on her and Harry only had one single thought in her head.

Get away! She had to get away!

RIGHT NOW!

But she was stuck!

Harry could feel something surging up within her, and for a blinding moment she figured that throwing up would be nice right about now. Make her situation better.

Instead, magic burst from her chest, shoving the advancing Alphas back to their places beside the confused Betas, knocking them away from her with force.

She had no time to spare to process Voldemort's violent reaction to his followers insubordination, but she was fairly certain that she heard several ' _Crucio_ 's' and the following screams were distinct.

Harry was too busy trying to breathe. Attempting to suck down enough air through her closed up throat to make herself stop shaking.

"You're a little Omega, Potter?" Came Voldemort's silky voice from far too close, making her flinch.

The man -if he could be classified as such- placed thin fingers on her chin and forced her head up so that he could look into her face.

His fingers on her skin was agony. It felt like her head would split in two!

Somehow, she still managed to meet his red eyes, no matter how difficult it was to focus her gaze.

"A lone little Omega on the cusp of heat." Voldemort mused, gaze cutting to his followers for a second, before focusing back on her.

Harry grit her teeth.

"How very unfortunate." He drawled, his words accompanied by a few dark chuckles from the surrounding Death Eaters. "I wonder, would it be satisfactory to give you to my Alphas?"

Harry could feel the little remaining blood drain out of her face, but she refused to look away from the abomination in front of her.

She didn't know what he saw in her face, but it must have been somewhat disappointing, because he let go of her a moment later, turning away to face his faithful Death Eaters.

"This Glorious evening has been drawn out enough. I have great plans to put into effect as soon as possible." He turned back to Harry and flicked his wand, making the ropes disappear.

Harry just about managed to avoid landing on her face in the grass in front of the tombstone, staggering upright even as she turned to fully face the Dark Lord.

"Let's have an honourable duel." Voldemort smirked cruelly, and Harry knew that this would be her death.

She caught the wand Wormtail threw her; _her_ wand.

"Come now, where are your manners, Potter?" Voldemort mocked. "At the start of a duel, the duellists both bow to each other." When Harry refused to bend her neck, Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "Bow." It was a clear command but Harry refused. " _Imperio_."

Harry felt the spell hit, washing over her and filling her head with a content, blissful calm.

 _Bow._ A voice in her head cajoled gently.

Why not? It wasn't that difficult a task and then she could go back to-

Harry snapped out of the Unforgivable with a furious growl of,

"NO!"

Voldemort looked fiercely displeased for all of a second, before the sharp, cruel smirk returned.

"Come now, _Harry_ , bow to death." And a solid force met her back, forcing it to bend in front of its' unforgiving weight.

She straightened as quickly as she could, doing her best to ignore the jeering laughter around her.

Voldemort was the biggest threat.

Everything that followed was a bit jumbled, but she knew that she had gone through a facsimile of a duel, evading death by a hair several times, hiding behind any obstacle she could find to avoid the sickly green spells Voldemort kept flinging in her direction with disturbing ease.

She realised something, though.

She would die here, this night. Alone, surrounded by people who wished her nothing but harm.

There were two ways this could happen; either she'd cower behind tombstone like a frightened child until Voldemort found her and killed her. Or, she could walk out there with her head held high and meet her death face on.

Harry knew which alternative she preferred.

With one last, shaky breath, Harry gripped her wand tightly, and rose to her feet.

She stepped back out into the clearing, fruitlessly trying to stop her hands from shaking as she met Voldemort's blood red gaze.

"Finished hiding, Harry?" The _man_ taunted.

"Yes." She answered and she was silently amazed at how calm and steady her voice sounded.

" _AVADA KEDAVRA_!" Voldemort flung the curse at her with wild relish and Harry raised her own wand.

" _Expelliarmus_!" Knowing that it was futile no matter what spell she chose; she didn't know anything that could rival the Killing Curse.

Harry braced herself, her knuckles shining white around her wand, but unlike what Harry had been expecting, the two spells collided in a shower of sparks and light and all of a sudden she couldn't afford to think of anything other than herself, her wand, Voldmort's wand that the link between them.

It took... _gargantuan_ effort, but she managed to force the golden pearls into Voldemort's wand and then-

Harry watched with wide eyes as what looked like the ghost of Cedric Diggory fell out of her opponent's wand.

" _Don't break the connection, Harry._ " It said, smiling at her and looking more alive than Harry currently felt. If it hadn't been for the fact that he was transparent, she might have thought Diggory had actually come back from the dead.

She watched, transfixed as the ghost of an old man fell out of Voldemort's wand next.

" _I don't know what's going on, but don't break the connection, lass._ " The old man told her.

It was all Harry could do to nod jerkily.

What was- did those pearls make Voldemort's wand spit out the last few spells it had performed? The last deeds it had done? Would that mean-

A long haired woman fell from his wand next and Harry could feel a single tear escape one of her eyes to drip to the ground.

" _Don't let go, Harriet._ " Her _Mum_ told her, giving her a radiant, proud smile that made Harry want to smile back despite everything.

Her wand was shaking so violently with effort now that she had to hold on with both hands or drop it.

"I won't." She managed to croak.

The Death Eaters circling around the outside of the golden cage that had appeared around her and Voldemort seemed to belong to another world.

" _Hold out a little bit longer; your father is coming._ " Lily Potter assured her, joining the other ghosts in pacing the circle around her and the Dark Lord.

Harry's gaze was drawn to Voldemort's wand once more and the silvery, transparent form that had just fallen out of it.

" _We are so proud of you, Harry._ " James Potter told her, her _Dad_ , and he sounded so proud of her she felt like sobbing. " _You don't have much time, but when the connection breaks, you must get to the Golden Cup. It's still a portkey, Harry, do you understand?_ "

She nodded stiffly, barely able to hold on to her wand now, even with both hands.

" _One last thing, Potter. Would you mind taking my body back with you? For my parents."_ Cedric asked her, a warm supportive smile on his face.

"I will." Harry promised, her voice breaking slightly.

" _We will try to give you as much time as possible, love._ " Her mother promised. " _When you're ready, break the connection and run for the Cup._ "

Harry nodded one last time, gave the ghosts around her a longing glance and then jerked her wand to the side.

The ghosts all rushed Voldemort, but Harry didn't stay to watch. She fell into a mad scramble towards the Cup, just about managing to grab it and Cedric Diggory's corpse before Voldemort's _Avada Kedavra_ would have impacted her.

The hook behind the navel jerking her away as the portkey activated was just as uncomfortable as always, but Harry felt nothing more than bone-deep relief.

Then she impacted the ground once more, and there were suddenly too much noise, too many people around her.

She'd later realise that they were _cheering_ , celebrating, but all Harry could do was curl up on her side, one hand clutching desperately at Cedric's limp wrist and the other clamping down over her own mouth.

The cheers soon enough changed to screams of horror, but Harry hardly noticed.

She was surrounded by people and someone peeled her hand away from her mouth and forced her look look up at them. Professor Dumbledore's wrinkly face stared back at her and Harry had never seen him look so pale and a strange mixture of scared and furious.

"He's back." Harry managed to croak, blinking several times in rapid succession when grey began to creep up on the edges of her vision.

"Just stay here, Harry." Dumbledore told her and it felt so good not to have to be the once to make decisions any more. "Let him go, my dear." He said next and it took a while for her to understand. "You need to let him go, he's dead; there's nothing we can do."

And with a trembling breath and a lot of effort, Harry managed to relax the hand connected to Cedric's corpse.

"He asked me to take him back with me." Harry mumbled.

"And you did an excellent job, my dear girl." Dumbledore told her firmly, smoothing a hand over her hair, pushing it away from her face.

"Albus, the Diggorys." McGonagall's voice said faintly from out of Harry's direct line of sight.

"Stay right here, Harry." Dumbledore told her before he rose and hurried towards the worried couple approaching their son's corpse.

Harry mumbled a vague assent and relaxed bonelessly against the ground, she didn't know for how long.

"Come here, Potter." A gruff, familiar voice said next, half-lifting her from the ground, pulling her arm over a pair of sturdy shoulders and heaving her to her feet.

The world spun before Harry's blurry vision and it was all she could do to remain upright and not throw up.

"Professor Dumbledore told me to stay." She managed to mumble, words half-intelligible with exhaustion and pain.

All of her was hurting.

"Just a bit more, Potter." The voice said next and Harry blinked, peering confusedly at-

"Prof'ssor Moody?" She slurred, even as the man in question dragged her along through the castle.

"Almost there, not far, Potter." He said.

Harry didn't like this. Not at all. Dumbledore had told her to stay put. Where was Moody taking her? The Hospital Wing? She had thought she'd seen a glimpse of Madam Pomfrey down by the maze, though, so-

Moody hauled her into a room and the door slammed shut behind them.

Harry watched dazedly as Moody waved his wand at the door, muttering spells under his breath and then he was back at her side.

He didn't look like usual, she noted blankly, taking in the way he seemed even more deranged than normal.

The electric blue eye was spinning too fast to follow in it's socket and his brown eye was wide and feverish.

"Tell me, Potter." He began, grabbing the front of her shirt and pulling them close together. "Is he back? Is the Dark Lord back?"

Harry was weakly trying to remove his hand from her front, struggling uselessly to get away from the man.

What was wrong with him?

Her thoughts were still sluggish and she felt unsteady on her feet; she doubted she'd be able to remain standing if the man actually let her go.

It was difficult to pay attention enough to listen to the man as he rambled about the Dark Lord's greatness, how _he_ was the one who had placed her name in the Goblet of Fire, how he was Voldemort's greatest follower; his most loyal Death Eater.

It wasn't making a whole lot of sense to Harry, who distantly thought that Moody had been an Auror?

The room was spinning around them and she had barely noticed when Moody had backed her into a wall, shaking her slightly as he demanded answers Harry didn't at all feel like giving him, his breath hot on her face.

There was a bang on the door and Harry's gaze drifted that way.

Moody growled something in her face, but Harry was feeling dizzy and faint and why couldn't the room be still?

She watched as if in slow motion as the door was blown off its' hinges and Albus Dumbledore strode into the room like an avenging spirit.

With a flick of his wand, Moody was gone from in front of her and unconscious on the floor.

Without the support holding her upright, Harry's legs gave out.

She was caught before she could hit the floor, and she managed to raise her head enough to meet McGonagall's concerned gaze.

"I don' think 'es Moody." Harry slurred quietly, letting her Head of House hoist her somewhat upright again before dragging her over to a chair.

"I don't think so either, Harry." Dumbledore answered seriously. "The real Alastor Moody would never have removed you from my presence when I had specifically ask you to stay."

Harry began to list to the side, but thankfully, she ended up slumped against McGonagall's side instead of falling to the floor.

"What is wrong with her?" A male voice hissed, making Harry blink.

"She needs Poppy." McGonagall answered, and Harry was grateful that her Head of House was looking out for her without spilling her secrets.

"Severus." Dumbledore said, and Harry realised that it was _Snape_ who had asked. "Could you be so kind as to fetch a bottle of Veritaserum?" While Snape strode out of the room, the Headmaster called for the House-Elf Winky.

When Snape returned, Albus adressed him again, the trembling House-Elf standing silent and wide-eyed beside him.

"Three drops will be an appropriate dosage, I think." The headmaster said in a calm voice that was underlined with cold steel, waving a hand at Moody.

Snape strode past Harry and McGonagall and he looked like nothing more than a large, black, formless mass to Harry.

"Albus, I must take Harry to the Hostipal Wing." Her Head of House finally spoke up and Harry realised that there was a hand on her forehead, feeling pleasantly cool against her skin.

"Not quite yet, Minerva. Harry deserves to hear this."

"Harry is burning up with _fever_!" McGonagall snapped back, making Dumbledore look up from his former staff member.

Harry blinked blearily up at the headmaster, absently tightening her hold on her own scent.

It wasn't safe to let it go.

Never mind that the effort made her head spin.

"Harry." Dumbledore's face was right in front of hers now, and Harry gave a slow blink. "Did he say why he took you here?" He asked, voice slow and clear.

Harry let more of her weight rest on McGonagall but gave a shallow nod.

"'E said, tha' e'd kill me, s'nce Vol'emort coul'n't do it." She mumbled. "Said- said that 'e w's ze Dark Lord's most lo'al follow'r." She managed to get out, hoping it was at least legible enough for them to understand what she meant.

"How could Alastor be a- a Death Eater?" McGonagall demanded sharply, sounding like she didn't believe it for a moment.

"That's because this isn't Alastor Moody." Dumbledore said, and raised a hand to place on Harry's forehead, just like McGonagall had done, his expression pinched slightly with worry when he felt how warm she was.

Harry watched them all through glazed, half-lidded eyes.

McGonagall's gasp brought all of their attention back to Moody.

"All the excitement this evening must have made him forget to take his potion as regularly as he ought to." Dumbledore stated with grim satisfaction.

Harry stared as Moody's skin seemingly began to boil, bubbling and coiling until it felt like she'd throw up just watching it all.

Then the wooden leg thumped to the floor and the magical eye popped out of it's socket, only to be replaced with a naturally blue eye, identical to its' twin.

"'S not Moody." Harry mumbled into McGonagall's robes.

"Indeed it isn't." Dumbledore answered her, sending yet another worried glance her way.

He would later tell Harry that he hadn't sent her to the Hospital Wing right away because Madam Pomfrey had yet to return from calming the Diggorys down. The explanation was accompanied by a sincere apology.

"Crouch?" Snape muttered with a shocked, confused undercurrent to his voice.

What followed was a wild tale that still somehow explained everything. How her name had ended up in the Goblet of Fire, what had happened tonight.

By the time everything had been revealed, Harry couldn't withstand it any more.

She curled into herself and let out a small, pained noise that drew the attention of everyone in the room sans Crouch Jr.

"Harry?" McGonagall's voice asked, sounding hurried and strained, but Harry couldn't managed to open her eyes enough see what her expression looked like. "The Hospital Wing, right now!" The witch added sharply and then there was the sensation of being moved through the air.

.

That had been the worst heat Harry had suffered yet.

She'd spent the whole three days of it curled up on a hospital bed, behind an impressive array of privacy screens and wards, crying and shaking with mixed terror and discomfort.

Madam Pomfrey had spent a lot of time with her, she could vaguely remember. As well as the large black dog she'd woken up clutching closely to herself several times.

On the fourth day, Harry woke up feeling exhausted but mostly back to herself.

"Madam Pomfrey?" She croaked, trying to swallow to moisten her throat to no avail.

Something shifted on the bed next to her, and Harry craned her head to meet grey eyes set in a furry dog face.

"S'rius." She mumbled, managing to shuffle around so that she was facing her animagus godfather and wrap her arms around him with a content sigh.

She'd closed her eyes and was dozing lightly by the time Madam Pomfrey came striding past the curtain shielding her from the rest of the room.

"Miss Potter." She said softly, giving Harry a concerned once-over before she filled a glass of water for her.

Harry drank it down slowly, but eagerly.

"Thank you." She said, handing the glass back. "How long-"

"It's been four days since the Third Task." Pomfrey responded promptly.

Harry paled at the reminder and clutched Padfoot even closer. The dog gave a mournful whine, tucking his head under Harry's arm in a doggy hug.

Harry glanced worriedly from Padfoot to Madam Pomfrey. Was Sirius allowed to be here? Did Dumbledore know? Regardless, her grip on his fur tightened; she wasn't letting him go anytime soon.

Pomfrey seemed to just barely refrain from rolling her eyes.

"Now that the heat is officially over, you can turn back to a human, Mr Black, thank you very much." She said, staring pointedly at the dog which still had its' head buried under Harry's arm. "This is a Hospital not a zoo." She added sternly.

Padfoot let out a huff, but obligingly got up off the bed and turned back into a human.

Sirius immediately focused on Harry with worried, grey eyes.

"Harry. How are you?" He asked and Harry's face flushed.

Sirius had been with her during her heat. How embarrassing.

"Fine." She answered reflexively and immediately tried to ignore the two adults' sceptical looks. "I, um, feel much better." She corrected herself a moment later.

"Excellent, I will have to run a few diagnostic spells to make sure you're back to normal, give you something light to eat and then notify the Headmaster that you are awake." Madam Pomfrey told her succinctly, and Harry nodded along.

Once the Matron had gone back to her office, supposedly to floo Dumbledore, Harry forced herself to eat all of the simple soup she had been provided and studiously avoided looking at Sirius, who had sunk down to sit in the armchair next to her bed.

Her godfather said nothing, silently letting her gather her thoughts and sort herself out.

Harry fiddled with the hospital gown in the growing silence, until she paused, remembering the wounds she'd suffered both in the maze and in the graveyard.

She slowly pulled up the sleeve to her elbow and ran careful fingers over the large ugly scar where Wormtail had cut her for her blood. She could feel Sirius' gaze on her skin by the injury but he said nothing.

Next, she uncovered her foot and revealed the scars where the Acromantual had bitten her.

The ridges of the new scars stood out from the rest of her skin, bright pink, and Harry sighed softy. Yet another few additions to her growing collection, she supposed.

"Harry," Sirius said quietly a few minutes later, when Harry had leaned back and no longer felt like she couldn't meet his gaze, "Dumbledore is going to ask you about what happened. After you entered the maze."

The skin around Harry's eyes tightened but she didn't flinch. She had known this was coming.

She gave a small nod, to show she had heard, but didn't say anything.

"Ah," Sirius continued, looking at her with worry plain on his still-too thin face. "Would it be alright if I hugged you?" He asked, looking a little lost, tired from constant worry and torn about what to do.

"Yeah." Harry said and threw herself at her godfather, burying her face in his shoulder and holding him tightly.

Sirius hugged her back just as tight, stroking her over her hair and muttering words about how worried he'd been into her temple.

When professor Dumbledore arrived, Harry and Sirius were still hugging, but had settled down in his armchair. It was the first time Harry could remember ever sitting in anyone's lap. It was embarrassing, but Harry felt safe and content enough that she didn't care.

Sirius seemed to savour the closeness, so he wasn't complaining. He could hear Harry's heartbeat like this and feel her pulse, _feel_ how alive she was.

The old headmaster smiled at them and conjured himself an armchair that was so outrageously pink Harry had to smother a snort into her own arm.

Dumbledore smiled brightly at her in response, but the mood dampened quickly.

"Harry, my dear brave girl." He began, looking at her with proud but sad eyes. "I need you to tell me everything that happened after you entered the maze."

Harry nodded. She had known this was coming.

So she told them.

About reaching the Cup, how Cedric had reached it shortly afterwards and helped her with the Acromantula, how they'd grabbed the cup together.

She paused here, because this was the start of the hard part.

Harry's speech turned hesitant and halting and Sirius tightened his arms around her in silent support.

Neither of the males had interrupted her a single time since she began and for that, she was grateful.

So she told them about Wormtail -Sirius twitched at his name, but did nothing else- how he'd killed Cedric and- and she told them of the cauldron, the knife in Wormtail's hand as he took her blood and she showed Dumbledore the scar in the crook of her arm.

"He cut his own hand off." She told them quietly. "And then he put the _thing_ that was Voldemort in the Cauldron." She shuddered lightly and then continued to tell them about how Voldemort had stepped out of the cauldron in a new body.

When she glanced at Dumbledore, the man was looking grim.

After she'd told them about the Death Eaters arriving and Voldemort casting the _cruciatus_ on her, she hesitated.

Sirius was holding her so tightly that it was bordering on being uncomfortable. That didn't stop it from being comforting at the same time, though.

In the end, she didn't tell them about her grip on her scent slipping, about how the Death Eater Alphas had advanced on her like they would- she cut the thought off with a deep breath and a slight shake of the head.

When she continued to tell them about the duel, she felt like both Dumbledore and Sirius knew she had left something important out, but neither said anything.

Harry wondered how long that would last.

By the end of her tale, Sirius's cheek was resting on the crown of Harry's head and she wasn't sure if she was imagining the slight wetness in her hair or not.

Dumbledore let out a heavy sigh.

"As I feared." He murmured, giving Harry a long, sympathetic look that almost made her squirm. "I believe that we're facing a steep uphill battle from here on out."

"What do you mean, sir?" Harry asked, frowning slightly.

Dumbledore eyed her a long while over the edge of his half-moon glasses. "I'm afraid the Minister has not taken well to the news of Voldemort being back, so far."

"What? Cedric is dead, how does he think that happened? And you have, Crouch Jr, right?"

Dumbledore sighed. "I alerted the Minster to the state of things as soon as I could, but I'm afraid he reacted badly." The headmaster paused, his eyes turning hard as he stared off to the side, as if seeing it all again as he told her about it. "He had Barty Crouch Jr Kissed almost as soon as he entered the room, claiming that the Minister's life was in acute danger."

Harry could do nothing more than stare.

"Minerva was livid." Sirius added quietly, still with his arms wrapped tightly around Harry. "You should have heard her screaming at Fudge."

"She was rather displeased, yes." Dumbledore agreed seriously, a hard glint in his eyes now. "I must admit that I was very disappointed in the man, myself."

Sirius grumbled darkly a moment, before Harry asked,

"What? What is it you're not telling me?"

The two wizards exchanged a quick look over Harry's head, before the Headmaster let out a heavy sigh and leaned back in his pink armchair.

"I had to inform the Minister why he could not see you immediately, my dear girl, and he- well, Cornelius took it as an excellent reason not to take me for my word."

Harry was too stunned to even frown.

"Fucking bastard said that, since the only witness account we had was an 'emotional Omega who couldn't even confirm her own words' it was very clear to the Minister just what was going on." Sirius growled, the smell of Alpha on him growing stronger.

Harry closed her eyes and counted to ten.

"He won't warn anyone, then." She stated tiredly. "Voldemort is back and no one is doing anything."

"I wouldn't say that." Dumbledore smiled encouragingly at her when she opened her eyes again and looked at him. "The Order of the Phoenix worked tirelessly against Voldemort and his Death Eaters during the last war, and we will do the same now."

It sounded optimistic, but Harry knew it wasn't enough.

With an exhausted sigh, she rested her head on Sirius' shoulder.

.

The last few days of the school term rushed by and Harry tried to avoid the general populace as much as possible.

She still heard everything the students knew about what McGonagall had screamed at Fudge, no matter how little she interacted with them. ("-over emotional Omegas in the whole damn castle-" "It doesn't actually matter, BUT I AM A BETA, YOU BLITHERING FOOL!")

Ron and Hermione were doing the best to chase away all the curious people, and they told her that Dumbledore had asked the students to leave her be.

That didn't stop the curious, speculative glances, though.

Harry even caught Blaise giving her a discreet but vaguely concerned once-over when she was released from the Hospital Wing.

She pointedly ignored him and everyone else.

The only people she felt she could truly relax around were Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George.

"People should learn to mind their own business." Fred said loudly, making the majority of the Common Room flinch and hurriedly turn away from Harry.

She sent him a grateful look, even as she rubbed at her face.

"Yeah, don't mind all the idiots, Harry." George added, settling on the arm on her armchair and slinging his arms loosely around her shoulders.

Harry tensed, but didn't move away from him.

"Did Ron tell you that Ginny went through her Maturity shortly before the Third Task yet?" Fred changed the subject, sending his little brother a curious and mock-disapproving look. Ron scowled right back at him.

"No." Harry laughed softly at the by-play and listened as Fred and George regaled them with Ginny's -supposedly dramatic- change into a proper adult!

"Yeah, she's an Omega now, just like you." George said cheerfully. "She wasn't all that pleased; she never did want to be a home-maker like mum."

"Not that all Omega do!" Fred added hurriedly, George nodding along when he realised what he had just said could be taken as an insult. "I mean, there are plenty of Beta home-makers, too! And Omega have a lot of other options!"

"Relax, I get what you mean." Harry sighed with a slight smile.

Fred and George relaxed and, Harry supposed, relaxed enough that their grip on their scents loosened as well.

At the sudden smell of Alpha so close, Harry couldn't suppress her flinch.

George looked like someone had slapped him and he hurriedly removed his arm from her shoulders and pulled his scent back in as quickly as he could manage.

After a long second where the twins had stared at her with slowly widening eyes, they paled and George immediately moved away from Harry's armchair.

"We're terribly sorry, Harry." George said seriously, eyeing her like he was expecting her to curse them. "We didn't mean to- Sorry." He looked genuinely mournful.

Harry grimaced. She hadn't meant to flinch away, it was just... the Alpha scent had overwhelmed her a moment there and made her think of- "That's alright."

"It's really not." Fred said quietly, looking like he wasn't truly talking about what had just happened at all, because it had honestly been an accident, but the reason behind her flinch.

Harry couldn't refute him.

She hadn't told them everything that had happened, only the general gist of it, but... the twins could clearly see that there was more she wasn't telling.

When she turned to Ron and Hermione, the two of them were looking puzzled but clearly like they were contemplating if they had to curse Fred and George, even if they didn't understand what had just transpired.

"It's okay, guys. It wasn't on purpose." She told them tiredly.

"That's good to hear, Harry, but _what_ wasn't on purpose?" Hermione said, squinting suspiciously at the twins, who held up their hands in pre-emptive surrender.

"Accidentally released a bunch of pheromones." George told her apologetically, sending Harry a mildly guilty look.

Hermione's eyes narrowed even further, before she glanced speculatively at Harry.

"Harry's never liked it when Alphas do that." Was all she said, though.

Harry shrugged and that was that.

-x-x-x-


	3. Chapter 3

**I couldn't last a whole week this time either. Damn. Oh, well. Part of me is amazed that this story has gotten such positive reactions as it has! The rest of me, however, is just waiting for the flames to start trickling in. Facing fifth year, I think it's just a matter of time.**

 **Also, I have taken liberties with my interpretation of certain characters in this chapter! :) We shall see what everyone else thinks...**

 **Hold Your Head High**

 **Chapter 3**

Before she knew it she was back at the Dursleys, and for once, she did _not_ have a heat over the summer.

Instead, she got attacked by Dementors and nearly lost her soul. And then expelled.

Harry considered it a rather massive aggravation and down-grade from the previous years.

She could honestly say that she had seen far too many nightmares this summer and far too little news about what was really going on in the wizarding world.

She'd be sure to bring it up with her friends the next time she saw them.

Loudly.

In the end, Harry was fetched from Privet Drive quite unexpectedly, and she found herself wryly glad that she hadn't expected a heat this summer, because that would just have been _perfect_ , wouldn't it?

"Professor Lupin?" Harry said from the top of the stairs, squinting through the dark and clutching her wand quite tightly.

"Hello, Harry." Answered the calm, familiar voice.

A few questions later, they had all ascertained that everyone was who they claimed to be and Harry was introduced to the rest of the wizards and witches who had volunteered to go with Lupin and Moody -the real one this time- to come fetch her.

"Have you packed?" Someone asked, and Harry wanted to snap and say that she hadn't even known when they were coming! But she just shook her head instead.

And that was how she was introduced to Nymphadora Tonks, who preferred to go just by Tonks, thank you.

"I'm a metamorphmagus!" She told Harry cheerfully after she had witnessed her change her hair-colour in front of the mirror in Harry's room.

"What does that mean?" She'd never heard of it before.

"Well, it means I can change how I look at will. Pretty much." Tonks shrugged and helped Harry gather up her things and carrying them downstairs.

"Sounds neat."

"Yeah. You probably wouldn't mind hiding that scar occasionally, huh?" Tonks mused, gaze drifting up to Harry's forehead and she just barely resisted the urge to smooth down her hair in front of it self-consciously.

After a rather long and very cold flight by broom later, Harry was introduced to Grimauld Place number 12. A cheerful place. The decapitated house-elf heads on the wall and the troll-leg umbrella stand were a nice touch.

Finding out that this was where Sirius grew up was jarring, and she felt a surge of sympathy for her godfather.

"How've you been?" The man in question asked her once they stepped out of the hug Harry had practically fallen into.

"Fine." Harry said with a shrug. No one would be interested in hearing about her nightmares, the boredom and the constant worrying. The flashbacks.

Sirius gave her a _look_ but didn't contradict her, just lead her into the dark, gloomy kitchen.

"Oh, hello, Harriet dear!" Mrs Weasley greeted her where she was bustling around the room. "Dinner will be ready in just a few minutes. Why don't you go up and say hello to Ron and Hermione until then?"

Harry gave a silent nod, gave Sirius another smile and then followed Mrs Weasley's directions to Ron's room, leaving the Weasley matriarch to deal with a very enthusiastic Tonks wanting to help, but inevitable ending up giving them all more work to do instead.

They fell into a new routine quite quickly, and other than her initial burst of temper, Harry was mostly glad to be back around people who actually liked her and cared about her.

She came back from her trial steaming with anger.

"If I have to sit through another _conversation_ which pretty much boils down to that I am an emotional, unreliable Omega who will fold to the first Alpha who catches my fancy, then I am going to _murder_ someone." She hissed before anyone could ask her how it had gone.

If they wanted to know the official outcome of the trial, they would have to ask Mr. Weasley, who had brought her back, as Harry stomped passed the welcome committee straight to her room.

She'd calmed down slightly by the time the celebratory dinner rolled around, but she wasn't particularly pleased when Hermione spoke up halfway through dessert.

"Tonks, since you're a metamorphmagus," She began curiously, making the woman look up from her pie. "Does that mean you can change you gender status, too?"

"Of course." Tonks smiled, not looking bothered by the question at all. "But I'm really a Beta." She added, making Hermione nod thoughtfully.

"Have you ever gone through a heat as an Omega?" She asked, her cheeks just a little red with embarrassment but was clearly too interested in the answer to care.

The room became unnaturally silent at the question.

Harry had stilled in her seat. She and Ginny, seated to her left, shared an offended look that quickly turned to concern on Ginny's part.

"I have!" Tonks enthused, nearly bouncing in her seat with a wicked grin on her face. "It's awesome!"

Harry dropped her cutlery -loudly- on her plate, got up and left the room.

"Was that really bloody necessary, Hermione!?" She just about heard Ginny hiss angrily before the door closed behind her with a loud bang. She was fairly sure she heard a couple of the adults add their own voices, but she was too far away to catch the individual words.

Ginny found her half an hour later in the attic room where Buckbeak stayed.

She was sitting on the floor, arms crossed in front of her and supported by her knees, leaning her back against the handsome hippogriff, who was chattering at her in a manner she imagined was almost concerned.

"For all her smarts, Hermione can be a right bloody idiot sometimes." Ginny declared hotly, bowing politely to Buckbeak, who inclined his head regally back without getting up, before she sat down next to Harry and leaned her head on Harry's shoulder. "Want to talk about it?"

Harry made a small, wounded noise. She buried her head more firmly into her arms. "Why would she ask that?" She asked in a muffled voice.

The red-head let out a heavy sigh. "Well, I gather that she just wants to understand what we have to go through on a regular basis, even if she goes about it in completely the wrong manner."

Harry knew that, she _did_. That didn't change the fact that Hermione asking Tonks that question felt like a betrayal.

"So, again. Do you want to talk about it, Harry? One Omega to another? Because I feel like there's something you haven't mentioned to _anyone_ yet, and trust me, I know what it's like to walk around with a big, heavy secret in your life."

Harry glanced up to catch the bitter, sardonic smile on Ginny's face.

That was certainly true.

She took a deep breath, told herself to suck it up and slowly straightened up to lean more firmly against Buckbeak's ribs.

"Okay." She relented quietly.

"Just one moment." Ginny said, pulling her wand and flicking it absently at the door with a muttered spell. "For ensured privacy." She explained at Harry's questioning look.

Harry nodded. With Fred and George in the house, that would be a natural precaution, even if she doubted they would _ever_ eavesdrop on this particular conversation.

"You've only gone through the one heat, right?" She began by asking, figuring that starting with something a bit less sensitive would make it easier. (It wouldn't.)

"Yeah. It was weird." Ginny admitted with a pensive look. "Will that change? I felt more like I had a fever than what all those bodice ripper books make it sound like."

Harry choked on a laugh. "Bodice rippers?" She snorted.

"What? Do you have any idea how boring it was to stay home alone with mum that one year before I started Hogwarts?" Ginny smirked. "It didn't take long for me to find Mum's secret book stash."

Harry covered her face with her hands, laughing into her palms. "Merlin, Ginny!"

They sniggered a few minutes over that unexpected turn of the conversation, before the seriousness returned with a vengeance.

"I don't know if anyone's told you, but, I Matured early." Harry began slowly. Ginny shook her head, but looked intrigued. Harry grimaced. "I had my first heat shortly after I turned twelve."

Ginny's fascination turned into horror on her behalf. "What!?" She asked, staring at Harry with wide eyes. "I was pretty early for an Omega, and I was thirteen! Almost fourteen!"

"Yeah." Harry sighed. "But when you are that early, it's apparently common to just have one heat a year, and that's what happened for me until this year." She paused, staring down on her lap. "I'd had them in the summers before, when I was at the Dursleys and I could just lock myself in my room and wait it out."

"So what happened?" Ginny asked, sounding a bit hesitant to pressure her to tell more, but forging on nonetheless.

Harry took a deep breath, held it for a while, and then let it out. "I fainted shortly before the Third Task, and when Ron and Hermione took me to Pomfrey, she told me I was about to go into heat."

"No." Ginny's voice was quiet and full of dread.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. So, apparently the Triwizard rules have no allowances for Omega heats, because we just shouldn't be uppity enough to compete." She scowled. That still stung.

"You didn't even enter the competition on your own!" Ginny protested indignantly. "And you're telling me you had to continue even when you felt like shit?" She grimaced, no doubt thinking about how she had felt leading up to her first heat before the summer.

"Yes." Harry nodded. "That was about my reaction, too. But with more panic involved."

Ginny threaded her arm through Harry's, hugging it close as she silently encouraged her to continue.

"So, I wasn't feeling all that well when I entered the maze-" Ginny's grip on her arm abruptly tightened considerably as she no doubt realised where this was heading.

"No." She said, the word an exhalation of quiet horror. She turned wide eyes on Harry, and she was so very pale.

Harry reluctantly nodded. "In the graveyard," She pressed on, staring at a fixed point on the opposite wall, "Voldemort... cast the _cruciatus_ on me, and I, um, I lost the hold on my scent."

Ginny's hold on her arm tightened further.

"He'd summoned his Death Eaters by then and I didn't notice until the Alphas who were there all- all perked up like- like I was an unexpected treat." She spat bitterly, glaring miserably at the drab wall.

"They- they didn't, um..." Ginny tapered off, clearly not knowing how to ask.

"No." Harry said quietly. "But they were all advancing on me and I was tied to one of the headstones, so I couldn't even get away!" Harry angrily wiped a tear from her face. "I have never been that afraid and panicked in my life." She admitted softly, leaning her head on Ginny's, which had just landed heavily on her shoulder. "I- my magic, _surged_ out and- _pushed_ them all back to their places in the circle Voldemort had them standing in, and then-" She took a deep breath, "then Voldemort 'disciplined' them for moving without orders."

"He stopped them?" Ginny asked quietly, sounding like she had trouble picturing that.

"Not for any merciful reasons." Harry returned. "He was contemplating whether to let them- let them have their fun _first_ , before he killed me, but he was impatient, and didn't want to waste his time."

They sat in silence for the longest time, leaning against each other, their backs warmed by Buckbeak's massive, feathered chest.

"That sucks." Ginny finally said, and Harry burst into tearful laughter, because that was such an understatement it was almost funny. "Let's ignore Hermione until she properly apologizes and realise what she did wrong." She declared next, and Harry could do nothing more than relax against the younger girl.

"You're a great friend, Ginny." She told her placidly, feeling rather wrung out after the emotional airing.

"Well, you started the trend when you saved my life at age twelve, just so you know." Ginny returned with deliberate cheer, settling in closer to Harry for a more comfortable resting position.

Harry laughed faintly. "I'm sorry if it's upsetting, but I'm really glad you turned out to be an Omega."

"The way I figure it, _someone_ has to start the revolution, and I say you and me are perfect for the job."

.

For the first time in his life, Ron found himself in the situation Harry had often had to suffer through; being stuck between two friends who refused to talk to each other.

Harry didn't envy him, but she wasn't about to apologize to Hermione for something that felt like a betrayal to their friendship. And she wasn't going to just forgive her either.

She loved her, would do nearly anything for her, but Hermione would have to swallow her pride this time and come to her first.

To make things easier for Ron, Harry told him to try and get along with Hermione until this issue got resolved.

"But what about you, mate?" Ron asked with clear concern.

"I have Ginny." Harry smiled reassuringly. It would be nice to get to know the girl better, actually. She'd been so wrapped up in her own things the last couple of years she hadn't really put forth any effort.

The mood in the house was slightly strained after Harry and Hermione's temporary -and it _would_ be temporary. Harry would take matters into her own hands if Hermione was unable to- falling out.

Harry had had to make Ginny promise not to do anything unnecessarily mean to Hermione, and just settle for ignoring her.

She wanted Hermione to admit she had been in the wrong, not hurt her feelings.

She'd had to give Fred and George the same talk. The twins may not sit on all the information Ginny did, but they had figured out enough about what might have happened that they were rather protective of her now.

(Something Hogwarts would learn shortly.)

Sirius was acting a bit strange around her leading up to their departure for school, and Harry was fairly sure it wasn't _just_ because they were leaving. The thought of her godfather having listened in to their conversation... wasn't as upsetting as Harry imagined it might have been. She had wanted to talk to him about it all summer, but had outright refused to put it in a letter that anyone might read.

If he hovered and was a bit more over-protective of her, Harry decided to just bask in the affection he was heaping on her and return every single hug the dog animagus gave her just as tightly.

Ron and Hermione both turned out to be Gryffindor's new prefects, so that took care of how to solve the dilemma of where to sit during the train ride from King's Cross.

Harry and Ginny ended up sharing a compartment with a blonde Ravenclaw Harry could vaguely remember seeing around the castle, and Neville who-

"You've Matured into an Alpha, Neville. Congratulations." Harry told him with a smile. "You smell very nice." She told him honestly, making the boy blush bright red.

Ginny sighed. "I still haven't gotten used to all the _smells_!" She complained, making Neville murmur an agreement. "How do you even tell them apart!?"

Harry blinked. "Just be glad that you didn't have to live through Malfoy Maturing our third year." She grimaced disgustedly. "I swear I could smell him in most of the castle." She rolled her eyes.

"I didn't know you'd Matured back then." Neville muttered with a concerned frown.

"I was early." Harry shrugged and was happy to leave it at that.

"Oh, it's the first time I've met another Early Matured Omega." The blonde girl said in a voice that Harry could only describe as 'dreamy'. "Did you have just one heat a year very long?" She continued to ask, making Harry stare at her incredulously.

Neville had blushed bright red again, while Ginny's palm connected with her face.

"Harry, meet Luna Lovegood." She said, indicating the Ravenclaw with her free hand without raising her face from the other. "She's in my year. Luna, meet Harry Potter."

"I already know who she is, Ginny." Luna said, blinking confusedly at Ginny. "After last year, the whole castle does."

"Yes, thank you, I know." Harry smiled awkwardly at the rather... odd girl.

"I'm told you looked very lovely during the Yule Ball." Luna continued pleasantly.

"Thank you." Harry said, before turning to share a look with Neville.

"Oh, uh, look at this really cool plant I got for my birthday this year!" Neville perked up, holding up the small, strange potted plant he'd been holding in his hand all along. It looked a little like a cactus, only instead of spikes, it had bulbous growths that looked a little suspicious in Harry's humble opinion. "It's a Mimbleton Mimbletonia!" Neville continued enthusiastically. "It has a really interesting defensive system, just wait a second and I'll show you."

Harry was trying to tell him that he really didn't have to, when Neville dug out a quill from his book bag and jabbed it at the plant.

The plant proceeded to squirt the entire compartment with a pus-like substance that smelled rather strongly of ammonia.

"Oops." Neville muttered a moment later, frowning concernedly at his plant. "I didn't think the reaction would be _that_ violent. Sorry, guys, really."

"That's alright, Neville." Harry sighed and took out her wand. Together with Ginny, they got the compartment serviceable again in a few minutes.

"That was pretty cool, though, Neville." Ginny smiled once everyone were clean again, which made Neville not look quite as miserable.

"Thank you." He smiled slightly, before he straightened abruptly, as if remembering something. "Oh, and, Harry? I want to tell you that I believe you about V-Voldermort being back." He said, meeting her gaze seriously.

"Thank you, Neville." Harry smiled gratefully at the Alpha.

"I believe you, too." Luna told her with a distant smile.

"Thanks."

When Malfoy came around their compartment, Harry eyed him very calmly, and said in an eerily even voice, "Malfoy, if you don't turn around and leave right now, I'm going to punch you in the teeth."

Malfoy was so taken aback is was easy to herd him out the compartment door and close it in his face. Locking the majority of his scent out with him.

"Bloody prat." Ginny spat after him, fingering her wand with dark promise in her eyes. "The nerve of him. Next time he tries his routine, I'm cursing him so badly he'll have to _crawl_ up to the Hospital Wing."

"It's appreciated, Ginny, but you don't have to." Harry sighed with a reluctantly amused smile.

"Oh, trust me, I _want_ to." Ginny scowled at the door, before turning to Luna to ask about her summer.

Getting off the train and taking the carriages was not something Harry had anticipated to be a problem, but the skeletal horse-like things pulling them made her come to an abrupt stop.

Neville, whom they had nearly lost to the crowd, was standing next to her and glanced from Harry to the horse-things and back again.

"You can see them?" He asked quietly.

"What are they?" She asked just as faintly.

"Thestrals. I asked professor Sprout about them in second year. She told me that you can only see them if you've, well, seen death."

"The herd here is very well trained and nice." Luna put in, where she stood next to a confused Ginny. "They will let you pet them and even ride them if you bring them a snack."

"Great." Harry managed to press out, before stiffly moving towards the closest carriage and taking a seat. She very pointedly didn't ask any more questions about the thestrals.

No one pointed out that Harry hadn't been able to see them last year, for which she was unspeakably grateful.

Striding into the castle, Harry ignored all the looks and attention she was attracting. Walking into the Great Hall with Ginny at her side, Harry gave the Head Table a customary glance, absently wondering what sort of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor they'd get this year.

An offensive shade of pink next to Dumbledore made her stop in her tracks.

"What? Harry? What are you doing?" Ginny asked, backing the two steps she had taken before noticing that Harry was no longer next to her.

Harry stared up at the Head Table, bared her teeth and growled, like only Omega and Alpha could do.

Ginny startled, never having heard Harry resort to what was generally considered the 'baser' traits Omega (and Alpha, but people never seemed to hold them to the same standards) possessed.

"What? What is it?" She asked, turning to scan the Head Table herself. Her eyes narrowed. "Who's the offensively pink witch next to Dumbledore?"

"It's that Umbridge woman!" Harry hissed, her metaphorical hackles raised. "She works for the Ministry and she was there at my trial. You wouldn't _believe_ her views on Omegas!"

"Sounds lovely." Ginny said dryly. "But let's get out of here before we attract the dragon lady's attention." She finished, taking hold of Harry's arm and pulling her with her to the Gryffindor table, where she chose a seat far from Ron and Hermione.

A moment later, Fred and George settled on either side of Harry and Ginny, boxing them in.

"Have you seen the pink toady lady up next to Dumbles?" George asked, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in Dumbledore's direction.

He and Fred both turned surprised looks on Harry when she growled again.

"Wow." Fred said, sounding impressed. He exchanged a glance with his twin. "I never thought I'd hear it, but I should have known better. A very impressive growl, Harry-kins!"

"Shut up, you didn't hear her at my trial." Harry hissed angrily. "Going on and on about how Omegas cannot be trusted with any real responsibility, how we are frail, emotional _creatures_ that need to be protected but also given firm, steady rules." Harry spat. "She kept dropping these lines like I was an animal who would throw myself at the closest Alpha the moment I approach heat."

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" Ginny hissed, swivelling in her seat to glare up at Umbridge with liquid fire in her furious gaze.

"That's... not cool, mate." George muttered to his twin, frowning disapprovingly.

Harry snorted. "Really. What would you feel if someone outright told you, believing it to be true, that all Alphas were rapists? That you can't help your desires, that you can't help it, that it's just part of your nature. But all Alphas are rapists." It wasn't quite the same, but it was the closest comparison Harry could think of at the drop of a hat.

George was scowling now, and there was a calculative glint in his eyes. Which was perfectly mirrored in Fred's eyes.

"Do you think she's here temporarily for business, or do you think she's the new DADA teacher?" Fred asked casually.

"With the way my luck's been running lately, it wouldn't surprise me if she's here to stay the year." Harry said bitterly, placing her elbows on the table and her face in her hands.

"Well, at least there's the curse to look forward to." Ginny muttered sourly. "We might get lucky and it does something similar to what happened to Lockhart." The thought visibly cheered Ginny enough for her to stop scowling.

The general mood in their small part of the Gryffindor table didn't improve when Umbridge interrupted Dumbledore for her little speech.

Harry wasn't looking forward to Umbridge's lessons. Not one bit.

Going to bed was fairly awkward, what with sharing a dorm with Hermione, but Harry felt like that situation fit right in when it turned out that neither Lavender nor Parvati believed that Voldemort was back, and by extension, were prepared to believe that Harry was a filthy liar.

After a very stressful day, Harry bared her teeth at the tittering girls and growled.

"As long as you stay out of my hair about it, you can believe what the ever-loving fuck you want. You can stand right in front of Voldemort and tell him he's dead for all I care. Good luck with that." And she pulled the curtains around her bed closed to the sound of twin outraged gasps.

She was sure she heard Hermione snort, but didn't dwell on it.

Harry cursed out loud the next morning when she saw the Monday from Hell on the schedule McGonagall handed her.

It was proof of the woman's own mood when her Head of House did nothing more than give Harry a stern glare before moving on.

"What's got your knickers in a twist so early in the morning?" Fred asked as he slumped into the seat next to her.

Harry wordlessly handed him her schedule.

He winced. "Oh, that Monday is something of the worst I've ever seen." He admitted with an apologetic look.

"Fun Monday?" George asked as he took the seat on the other side of her.

"The funniest." Harry said flatly. "All my favourite teachers in the same day, one after the other.

"That's unusually cruel." George commented blandly. "Done anything to piss off anyone specific lately, Harry-kins?"

"I doubt the Minister has any say on the way our schedules are arranged." She muttered as she prepared herself some toast with jam.

"Yet, you mean." Ginny sighed as she took the seat right across from them. "Now that _she's_ here." She pointed discreetly up at Umbridge, who was dressed just as obnoxiously as the evening before.

"Don't remind me." Harry sighed and set to mentally preparing herself for a day with Binns, Snape, Trelawny and Umbridge, in that particular order. "If I don't get back alive, I'm trusting that you'll take good care of Hedwig for me, Ginny."

Ginny snapped her a lazy salute before biting into her first piece of toast, and Harry snorted.

Harry ended up sharing a seat with Neville for most of the day, as she deliberately sat away from Hermione, and consequently, Ron.

.

The day passed just about as she had expected, with one glaring exception.

No matter how horrible a teacher Harry had been expecting Umbridge to be, she ended up managing to be _worse_. Somehow.

Oh, that's right! She refused to teach them _anything_ practical all, and they had their OWLs this year! (Never mind the brewing war.)

And then she had the audacity to ask them what they could possibly have to defend themselves against!

"Oh, I don't know? Lord Voldemort, maybe!" Harry had snapped back, glaring at the horrid woman.

"Detention, Miss Potter!" Umbridge fairly sang, looking as thrilled as a toad who had just caught a particularly fat fly.

"You know what, I don't care." Harry told her evenly. "What, exactly do you think happened to Cedric Diggory, then?" She challenged, feeling her temper steadily rising when Umbridge smiled sweetly at her. As if Harry was a two year old having a temper tantrum.

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident-"

"He was MURDERED!" Harry practically roared. "By _Voldemort_!"

"I don't know who's been telling you these lies, dear-"

Harry interrupted her again. "No one had to _tell_ me he was back when I saw him with my own eyes!" She growled, and distantly realised that she was standing up and that the other students in the room were eerily silent.

"As an Omega, I suppose you deserve some allowances for emotional outbreaks, Miss Potter," Umbridge began mildly, and Harry practically saw red. "But that does not mean I will stand for this sort of unreasonable tantrums in my classroom. Now, do you need to see the Medi-Witch? Are you feeling a heat coming on?" The woman asked with a sickeningly concerned smile that was so fake Harry wanted to claw it off.

She lacked for words, and if she'd turned around, she would have seen several disbelieving, outraged expressions on her classmate's faces, but as it were, Harry had started to advance on Umbridge.

To do what, she wasn't sure, but by the time someone caught the back of her robes, she could smell a faint whiff of fear from the toad-like woman in the front of the room.

"You are to take this to professor McGonagall, Miss Potter." Umbridge said, quickly writing a short note and sealing it, before practically tossing it to Harry, who snatched it out of the air with a sneer.

She glanced down at Hermione, who still had a firm grip on the back of her school robes, but was glaring up at Umbridge, who had returned to smiling sweetly (condescendingly) at the class.

Harry left without a word.

"What are you doing out of class, Potter?" McGonagall demanded when she caught her having a one-sided screaming match with Peeves a few minutes later.

"I'm here to see you." Harry growled, thrusting the note at her Head of House. "Professor." She added grudgingly, too angry to really censor herself.

McGonagall eyed her a moment longer before waving her into her office with a sigh.

They sat down by the Transfiguration teacher's desk and Harry waited quietly while McGonagall read the damn note. It was a _pink_ fucking note!

"You've got detention with Dolores Umbridge." McGonagall finally said, folding her hands on top of her desk. "For shouting at her." Harry nodded. "Calling her a liar in class." She nodded again. "For..." McGonagall trailed off and frowned down at the note, "'threatening her with violence' in the classroom. She also suggests making Pomfrey take a look at you for signs of a beginning heat."

Harry snorted, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Of course she does." She wasn't surprised.

McGonagall let out a quiet sigh. "Have a biscuit, Potter."

"Have a- what, professor?" Harry was so blind-sided by this development that her anger dissipated before she could make a conscious effort to hold on to it.

"A biscuit." McGonagall repeated primly, pushing a tartan patterned cookie jar towards her. "Now, I don't know what Umbridge said to provoke you, but you must know that raising to the bait like this is exactly what she wants."

Harry nibbled on her ginger newt with a frown and didn't contradict her.

"I don't know what sort of falling out you seem to have had with Miss Granger, Potter, but surely you must know why Umbridge is here?"

"To keep an eye on Dumbledore." Harry answered dutifully.

"Indeed." McGonagall's nostrils flared, as if offended by the mere thought. "And I will advice you that letting your temper get away with you like this is not helping anyone, Potter. Least of all you." She eyed her sternly a long moment until Harry grudgingly nodded. "Now, you've got detention every evening with Umbridge this week, starting at five o'clock today."

Harry stared. "She gave me detention every day. The whole week." She repeated blankly.

McGonagall frowned disapprovingly. "She did."

"Angelina is going to murder me." Harry summarized blandly.

"I will be very cross with the both of you if that scenario ends up coming to pass." McGonagall frowned, but there was a slight smile in there somewhere, Harry could see it in her eyes.

"Alright. Can I go professor? If I have detention at five, I need to start on my homework." Harry asked tiredly.

"Very well." McGonagall said, inclining her head, like a benevolent Queen. "But remember what I told you, Potter. Keep that temper in check!"

Harry nodded and hurried back to Gryffindor Tower to get started on the mountain of homework she had gotten already, and it was just the first day!

OWL year was already turning out to be far more difficult than Harry had imagined, even if it was for slightly different reasons that she had thought.

.

"Is there a problem, dear?" Umbridge asked with a saccharine smile and Harry tore her gaze away from the back of her own hand to stare blankly at the woman.

"No, ma'am." She intoned, even as her hand tightened on the black quill in her hand.

If it was a struggle of wills Umbridge wanted, Harry would show her just how stubborn she could be.

She turned back to the paper and wrote another line of _I must not tell lies_ and this time, the pained hiss stayed firmly behind her teeth.

-x-x-x-

In the end, McGonagall ended up sending Harry to Madam Pomfrey for a check-up anyway, because, apparently,

"I have never known you to be this volatile during all your years here, Potter. Let Poppy take a look at you."

Harry wasn't amused, but she went ahead and did as asked, mostly because she knew McGonagall would check in with Pomfrey later and if Harry hadn't been there, she'd get detention from _McGonagall_ too.

She had never had as much detention, in all her years at Hogwarts, as she had gotten already and barely two weeks had passed since the 1st of September.

Pomfrey frowned when Harry arrived and began to throw diagnostics charms the moment Harry had told her why she was there.

"Let's sit down for some tea, Potter." Pomfrey muttered when she was done and seemed to have come to a conclusion.

Harry followed the Medi-Witch into her office, feeling mostly puzzled and a little annoyed.

"So." Harry said when Pomfrey remained silent too long for her tastes. Harry was so far behind on her homework that every minute spent idle made her more frustrated and stressed than she already was.

"It appears that you are approaching physical maturity, Potter." Pomfrey said with a professional air. "Early, again. Most magical children don't reach that until their seventh year, but I suppose it is to be expected." She said with a frown.

Harry didn't say anything, deciding to wait for the Matron to explain what that meant.

"What do you know about this subject?" She asked but sighed and forged on at Harry's blank expression. "Just because a child Matures into an Alpha, Beta or Omega does not mean that they are suddenly an adult. You should know this to be true." She said pointedly and Harry nodded; she sure as hell hadn't been an adult when she was _twelve_. "The years before full physical maturation sets in are something like a test-run, I suppose." Pomfrey frowned thoughtfully. "One gets to practice before the real things sets it. There's a reason why adult Alpha and Omegas don't fling their pheromones around like adolescents." She said pointedly. "Why, if grown Alphas behaved like teenagers, they'd end up killing each other every time an Omega came too close."

"Why?" Harry asked confusedly, and Pomfrey sighed. It looked more like it was at herself rather than at Harry, though.

"I'm not explaining this very well." She muttered. "Normally, this is something I get to prepare Alphas and Omegas for in advance; I start having my talks with the Alpha/Omega students in sixth year. But you are -as always- unpredictable, Miss Potter." Pomfrey smiled thinly at Harry, who grimaced.

"Reaching physical maturation as an Omega means, theoretically, that you are now ready to find yourself a mate to bond with." She summarized succinctly.

Harry slowly paled.

"Oh, there's no need to look like that, dear." Pomfrey assured her calmly. "Just because you _can_ doesn't mean you _have to_."

"What does that mean? For me?" She eventually asked.

"The amount of attention you're under will be more difficult to bear, I would think." Pomfrey began with a sympathetic frown. "And Omega will be more sensitive to an Alphas advances, too."

Harry grimaced.

"Not in the way you're probably imagining, dear." Pomfrey actually laughed. "The sheer amount of immature Alphas we have running around Hogwarts flinging their scent around like it's going out of style will either make you overwhelmed, or, and frankly I think this is more likely, pissed off beyond belief." She said with a humourless smile. "Throwing your pheromones at an Omega who isn't interested is quite a bit like pouring water on a glass that has been placed upside down. Futile and quite annoying to deal with." She paused. "Some Omegas, however, and there are plenty of theories as to why this is, are more like a simmering cauldron; add ingredients that aren't wanted or indeed compatible, and there will be a very violent reaction." The office was silent a long while as Pomfrey let Harry digest that. "The latter option would be you, dear."

"So that's why it's been so difficult to stop myself from punching people lately." Harry muttered speculatively, thinking back on her ever frayed temper in the last week alone. "Anything else I should know about?"

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "First off, your Omega instincts will most likely become more pronounced." She said, before continuing, "Your heats might become more difficult, but we're going to have to see on that front; it's a bit too different from case to case to be a reliable prediction. Other than that, your scent is going to slowly change into that of a fully mature Omega." She eyed Harry a moment. "That shouldn't be much of an immediate issue, since you've been studiously suppressing it since the start."

"So you're basically telling me that the majority of the Alphas around me are going to turn into even bigger, even _more_ obnoxious jerks?"

"Or they will back off. You can never quite tell with these things. Sometimes the immature Alphas focus on Omega that are on their own level instead, only for the already physically matured Alphas to show more interest." She shrugged and Harry barely bit back a groan.

"Great." She took a deep breath. "How does this help me keep my temper around Umbridge?" She asked impatiently.

Pomfrey's expression soured at the mention of the Undersecretary.

"It is unfortunate that you should have to deal with her during this time of hormonal change and emotional unbalance."

"If what you meant by that was 'constantly pissed off' then yes, it is very unfortunate." Harry snorted. "I swear, the next Alpha that stinks up the air right next to me is going to lose his teeth." She muttered darkly under her breath.

Pomfrey looked reluctantly amused. "I'm sure I didn't hear anything just now."

Harry rolled her eyes, before focusing back on the Matron. "Madam Pomfrey, if you don't mind me asking, but, what type of Omega were _you_ when you reached physical maturity?" She asked curiously, fully prepared for the woman to choose not to answer.

Pomfrey smiled, and it was a sharp, mischievous thing. "I wasn't quite on your level, Potter, but I was very much the volatile cauldron." She laughed. "Perhaps we should fashion you a sign you can wear that warns the Alphas off?" She teased. "I'm certain it will spare me quite a bit to do this year."

"No, thank you." Harry sniggered quietly. "If the idiot Alphas haven't figured out by now that I'm not interested in them, I doubt a sign will make much of a difference."

"I have seen you be quite friendly with the Weasley twins and Neville Longbottom this year. Alphas, all three of them." Pomfrey pointed out with a slow, sly smirk that had Harry laughing.

"Yes, and they're about the only sensible ones I've met so far." Harry smiled. "Fred and George are like the protective older brothers I never had, and Neville is perfectly pleasant. He hasn't thrown his scent in my face a single time, even on accident." She shrugged.

Pomfrey looked fondly amused. "And if you wouldn't mind me asking, Harry, how much can you pick up from the scents around you?"

Harry gave her a puzzled look. "I thought it was the same for everyone?"

"Oh, no. Not even close, dear." Pomfrey shook her head and settled in for another explanation. "The most widely accepted theory is that the stronger the Alpha or Omega, the more acute their sense of smell. So, say that a weak Omega meets an Alpha, she can easily decide if she finds his scent attractive or not, but she wouldn't be able to explain why she thought so. A _strong_ Omega, however, might be able to smell as much as distinctive character traits and emotional state from an Alpha's scent alone."

Harry stared. "Why can't people just write all this crap down in a book or something?" She wondered with something that was awfully similar to despair. "Hermione scoured damn near the entire library our second year, and she didn't even find out about half of the things you've told me!"

Pomfrey blinked. "Omegas aren't something wizards in general are interested in reading about, other than when the information plays into their fantasies about what an Omega _ought_ to be, according to them." She said, her voice dry enough to peel paint.

Harry scoffed. "Of _course_ that's why." She got up with a sigh. "Thank you for telling me, Madam Pomfrey, but I really need to get started on my homework now. I'll come back if something else pops up."

"You do that, dear." Pomfrey said, waving her out of her office.

.

Harry came back late one evening after yet another of Umbridge's detentions, her hand aching something fierce and it hadn't stopped bleeding by the time she reached the tower.

Harry sincerely doubted that the words would ever actually disappear, so deeply had they been gouged into her hand by now.

When she entered the Common Room, Harry had been expecting it to be empty. Instead, she was met with the sight of Ron, Ginny and Hermione, all sitting in the armchairs closest to the fire.

When Ginny spotted Harry, she gently kicked Hermione's feet and jerked her head towards the entrance hole, where Harry was standing, blinking confusedly at them.

"Harry." Hermione said quietly, getting up from her seat and walking up to her with a pained, guilty expression. "I'm- I'm sorry." She said, looking truly remorseful.

Harry had thought Hermione had started to look a bit frazzled lately, but she had just figured that it had been school related.

"That's alright, Hermione." Harry replied with a tired smile. "Missed you." She added and practically melted into the hug Hermione pulled her into.

"Finally!" She heard Ron exclaim with tangible relief. "Does this mean we can go back to the two of you staying friends no matter what after this and leave the fighting to Hermione and _me_ from now on?"

Harry laughed helplessly into Hermione's shoulder, and then let the girl pull her further into the room and to the other two.

"Here." She said, holding out a bowl with a funny-smelling liquid in it out to Harry. "Murtlap Essence; it's for your hand. What Umbridge is doing to you is horrible, Harry."

Harry sighed. "It would be easier if she didn't push my buttons _all the damn time_." She closed her eyes in relief when she submerged her injured hand in the liquid and the constant pain dulled to a pulsing throb.

"Yeah, about that." Hermione frowned confusedly. "What is going on, really, Harry? You've never been this easily riled before?"

Harry shared a mildly uncomfortable look with Ginny, who had been her very much needed emotional support so far, and was a very sympathetic ear on all of Harry's Omega troubles. The girl had come to somewhat dread her own physical maturity, though, and Harry had easily confirmed that it wasn't _any_ fun.

"It's because I'm an Omega." She finally admitted with a sigh. "I'm going through my physical maturity and it means that Umbridge has an even easier time riling me up when all the idiotically obnoxious Alphas in this castle does most of the work for her." She muttered sourly. Not that Harry would have let the woman's behaviour slip by without remark otherwise, but this amplified everything.

Ron and Hermione shared a puzzled look. "What does that mean? 'Physical maturity'?" Hermione asked, looking perplexed.

"It means she is getting physically ready to find a mate." Ginny told her bluntly, a bit red-cheeked. Harry grimaced. "And all the immature Alphas flinging their stink around are basically goading her into wanting to tear their throats out."

The two Betas looked decidedly wide-eyed. "Is that true?" Hermione asked faintly, turning back to Harry, who scowled.

"I should be rewarded for my patience, because I haven't even punched anyone yet."

That 'yet' looked like it worried Hermione, but not more than everything else, though she kept her silence as she thought it over.

"I'm sorry I haven't been there to help you." She said at last, apologizing again. "I just, why did you get so angry, Harry? I just wanted to understand."

"Then why didn't you start by asking _me,_ Hermione? Or, if I had told you I wasn't comfortable talking about it, asked me if I thought it was _alright_ that you inquired about something that personal?" She rubbed tiredly at her forehead. "And Mrs Weasley is an Omega; why didn't you ask her?"

"I just- thought that since Tonks is a Beta, she could explain it to me in a way I could more easily understand." Hermione shrugged sadly, staring down on the floor. "But I realise now that I should have asked you first."

"That's okay." Harry murmured with a slight smile. She was tired enough that she was just about falling asleep where she sat, despite the fact that she couldn't go to bed yet. She tried not to think about the sheer amount of homework she needed to do.

"I've been wanting to talk to you for a while now, but I didn't know how to approach you." Hermione admitted with a slight, self-deprecating grimace. "We really need to do something about Umbridge, Harry." She leaned forward in her seat, staring at Harry with intent, beseeching eyes.

"You think I don't know that?" Harry sighed. "What did you have in mind?"

"She's not teaching anyone anything. I've talked about it with Ron and Ginny and they agree with me." Harry glanced at the two siblings, who both nodded. "At this rate, our classmates won't be able to protect themselves when V-Voldemort finally reveals himself. So, I figured we should learn Defence from someone who actually knows what they're talking about!"

Harry frowned. "I don't think we can smuggle professor Lupin into the castle on a regular basis, Hermione."

"I'm not talking about Lupin." Hermione dismissed. "I'm talking about _you_."

Harry stared at her, then shifted to stare at Ron and Ginny, but none of them indicated that this was some sort of joke.

"Very funny." She said flatly, only for Hermione to launch into a rapid speech about why she would make an excellent teacher.

After some arguing back and forth, Harry grudgingly agreed, even though she was of the opinion that someone else could do better.

.

Things in the castle grew more tense than ever, and it was becoming ever more clear that Harry wasn't the only Omega Umbridge had an issue with.

She was still happily handing out detentions to anyone who was bold enough to disagree with her or voice any sort of opinion Umbridge didn't approve of. (None more than Harry, though. Not even close.)

It was rather strange that almost all of those students happened to be muggleborns and half-bloods, weren't it?

The meeting at the Hog's Head during the first Hogsmead weekend turned up a surprising amount of people, and Harry only wanted to physically harm anyone three times during the two hours it took to come to a conclusion. Mostly Zacharias Smith, who started out by not only questioning her sanity, but verbally wondered what, exactly, an Omega could possibly be able to teach anyone. (Other than things related to bedding Alphas, but that was more implied than explicitly stated. Harry still wanted to punch his teeth out and she didn't doubt that Fred and George -eagerly assisted by Ginny and Ron- would make sure something 'unfortunate' happened the idiotic Hufflepuff before the next weekend.)

And thus it was decided that Harry would teach the lot of them about Defence Against the Dark Arts, and more importantly, what it was like to implement them in a real life-and-death situation.

Before that could happen, though, Harry woke up early on the following Monday, feeling flushed and achy in a way that could only be one thing, and it certainly wasn't a cold.

"Hermione." Harry snuck over to Hermione's bed and shook her friend awake.

"Wha- Harry?" Hermione mumbled sleepily, before waking up enough to take in her friend's expression. "What is it?"

"I need you to help me to the Hospital Wing." Harry bit her lower lip trying to stop her limbs from trembling with the effort of staying upright.

"Why?" Hermione asked confusedly before taking a closer look at her. "Oh. Is it-" She cut herself off and continued in an even lower whisper. "Is it a heat?"

"Think so." Harry muttered, fighting a shiver. "Can we go now?" She asked weakly, hands clenched almost painfully in Hermione's duvet.

"Of course!" Hermione said softly, quickly getting out of bed and pulling on her shoes. Both of them were wearing pyjamas, so it wasn't like getting dressed was the highest priority. Hermione did pull on a dressing gown, though. "Come." She said, taking a gentle hold of Harry's hand and leading her out of the dorm room and out of Gryffindor Tower.

Harry was just glad that Lavender and Parvati hadn't woken up.

When they reached the Hospital Wing, it didn't take more than a few seconds before Pomfrey joined them, casting a quick series of spells at Harry, who was shivering now, and it wasn't from cold.

"You're in heat, Potter." She confirmed briskly. "Come, let's prepare a bed for you and I'll bring out the privacy screens."

"Okay." Harry managed to answer, her breathing feeling a bit laboured and she most of all just wanted to curl up in a dark, quiet place and wait it out.

"Granger, if you could help Potter to one of the beds in the back? Thank you." And Pomfrey strode away to prepare everything for Harry's stay.

Hermione carefully got Harry back on her feet from where she had slumped down to sit on one of the hospital beds near the door, and lead her slowly and gently through the room.

"The moment I've finished casting the wards, you can let your scent go and just focus on getting through it." Pomfrey said encouragingly, even as she walked around the bed the farthest from the doors, waving her wand in complicated patterns.

"Is a Beta able to sense a difference between an Omega's regular scent and during heat?" Hermione asked curiously after a while, obviously urged on by an academical sense of curiosity.

"If an Omega has a strong enough scent, yes." Pomfrey replied, helping Harry under the covers. "Miss Potter's scent would be obvious to you, I believe, should she agree to let you try." She gave a slight, amused smile at the curious Beta, who turned shining eyes on the discomfited Omega.

"Urgh, Hermione!" Harry complained. Did Hermione not realise how embarrassing this was? "Fine! If it will make you feel better, I will let you smell my scent." She glared half-heartedly at her friend, who visible perked up excitedly. "Are you done, Madam Pomfrey?" She turned to the Medi-Witch next.

"Yes. You can go ahead, Potter." The woman nodded and then took her leave, even though she had been present during one of Harry's heats already and knew full well what she smelled like.

"Just, it's a bit embarrassing to have someone ask to smell me, you know?" She muttered, sending Hermione a glare from where she had pressed her face halfway into her pillow.

"We're friends, Harry." Hermione waved her words away, as if she couldn't see anything to be embarrassed about.

Harry sighed and slowly eased her 'grip' on her scent, letting it flow freely into the warded space Pomfrey had provided. Didn't want to slam it all in Hermione's face all at once.

Hermione sat down on the edge of her bed with a thoughtful look on her face. Harry just let out a relieved sigh; keeping all her scent in had been more difficult than ever before, and she was simply happy that she could finally relax fully.

"It smells sort of sweet?" Hermione finally said, jerking Harry away from the near-sleeping state she had fallen into. "It's all warm and a bit spicy, but also sweet." She mused and Harry fixed her with a bleary stare. "You smell a bit like very tempting baked goods, Harry." She grinned.

Harry grunted, severely unimpressed.

"No one's allowed to eat me without my permission." She grumbled grumpily into her pillow, and Hermione gave a helpless, embarrassed giggle. "I'll claw their eyes out." She added in a drowsy mutter, making Hermione choke on more laughter.

"You need to leave now, Miss Granger, if you want to have time to go back to your Tower to change before breakfast." Madam Pomfrey's voice reached them, and Hermione got up with a sigh.

"I'll come by to check on you after classes." She promised, patting Harry's hair affectionately and then walked out to the waiting Pomfrey.

"Wait a moment, Granger." Harry could hear Pomfrey say. "I need to remove the scent from you, or you'll cause a riot at breakfast."

Harry snorted into her pillow and then drifted off into the not-quite sleep-like state that heat always left her in.

.

Hermione came back hours later, as promised, and she bought Ginny with her.

"Holy cow!" Ginny muttered when she stepped over the wards and got a face-full of Harry's heat-tinged scent. "I know I'm an Omega, but damn you smell delicious, Harry." She said with a wicked grin that made Harry scowl blearily at her.

"Cuddles." She demanded grumpily.

Hermione looked awkwardly uncomfortable, but Ginny gave her a sympathetic look and sat down on the bed next to Harry, leaning her back against the hospital bed's headboard.

Harry didn't waste any time in wrapping her arms around Ginny's waist and curling as much of herself as she could around the younger Omega.

"Just make sure you return the favour when it's my turn." Ginny joked good-naturedly, patting Harry's hair.

The three girls were silent for a while as Harry tried to clear the haze from her head enough to think of any questions to ask.

"Anyone said anything?" She asked, mumbling despite her best efforts.

Ginny and Hermione exchanged a long look over Harry, before Hermione gave in with a sigh.

"There have been... a few unsavoury comments thrown my and Ron's way." Hermione admitted reluctantly.

"Don't worry about it, though!" Ginny added cheerfully. "Fred and George took extreme exception to it all and since you weren't there to do it yourself, made the morons regret it. With prejudice. McGonagall didn't even give them detention when she heard what exactly had happened." She smiled and ruffled Harry's hair playfully, earning a baleful glare from the flushed Omega.

"Have you eaten anything yet?" Hermione asked after a while, giving Harry a concerned once-over. What she could see of her at least, since most of Harry was buried under the thick blankets Pomfrey had provided.

"No food." Harry grimaced with distaste. "Urgh."

"Yeah, I didn't feel much like eating during my heat, either." Ginny commiserated. "We could get you some water, though." She offered with a small smile.

After a brief pause, Harry nodded sluggishly, prompting Hermione to disappear from the small, enclosed room-like space in pursuit of a glass of water.

"How much heckling should I prepare myself for when I come back?" Harry quietly asked Ginny when she was sure Hermione was out of hearing.

The red-head sighed heavily. "Definitely more than you should have to deal with." She said. "I think some of the Alphas in your year might be offended that they can't smell you." She added with a thoughtful scowl. "Malfoy was being particularly obnoxious when I saw him at lunch."

"Bleh." Harry said, summing up her feelings on the matter quite nicely.

"Ron was a bit torn about not being able to come with us." Ginny continued blithely. "I think he was part disappointed her couldn't visit you, and part relieved he wasn't expected to."

Harry hummed.

Males of any kind -unless close family members- were encouraged to stay away from any Omega in heat that hadn't explicitly invited them to share it with them. Something Harry distantly suspected wasn't an option at Hogwarts anyway.

Not that she was interested in any Alpha here.

"Here, Harry." Hermione said when she came back, carrying a tray with a pitcher with cold water and three glasses. She put it down on the bed-side table and poured Harry a glass while Ginny carefully helped her into a sitting position.

Harry ended up sitting next to Ginny, mostly slumped against the girl, head nestled like a warm weight on Ginny's shoulder.

She managed to get down two glasses of water before she indicated she didn't want any more, and Hermione filled a glass for Ginny next, who sipped it slowly while Hermione told Harry about the new home-work assignments they'd gotten.

A small commotion from the doors to the Hospital Wing made Hermione fall silent, though.

"Out of the question!" They could hear McGonagall's voice exclaim with outrage. "I will not have you harass one of my Lions for something they can't control, Dolores! Absolutely not!"

"Miss Potter missed my lesson, and I am merely here to inquire about the girl's condition, Minerva."

"I notified you about all you could possibly need to know before breakfast this morning." McGonagall snapped back rigidly, sounding disgusted with the other woman. "Potter will be absent for a few days, without any repercussions or remarks." McGonagall said sharply. "Just like any other Omega attending this school!"

"The Minister strongly encourages all his employees to ascertain facts for themselves, Minerva." Umbridge simpered, and Harry closed her eyes. She did _not_ want to see that woman right now.

She had already tensed and a low growl was building in her throat.

"Hush, Harry." Ginny urged her quietly, slinging an arm around Harry's shoulders and smoothing her other hand down the side of her face in the hopes to calm her. "Don't give her any reason to barge in here."

Harry huffed, but quieted.

"Bite her." She mumbled, turning her face further into Ginny's shoulder, trying to ignore the rest of the argument between her Head of House and the Ministry harpy.

It all lasted until a quietly furious Pomfrey informed Umbridge that her patients enjoyed full Healer-Patience confidentiality and that if she caught Umbridge in her Hospital Wing again trying to infringe on that security, she would curse her _herself_. It was heavily implied that she wouldn't fix her afterwards, either.

McGonagall's heavy sigh after the horrid woman had left was heard all the way back to Harry, Ginny and Hermione, who all exchanged fierce looks.

A quiet conversation with Pomfrey later, McGonagall left. Possibly to go notify Dumbledore of what Umbridge had tried to do.

Harry sighed. "You guys'll help me curse _all_ the Alphas after this, right?" She asked tiredly, having a feeling that it would be very much needed.

"Not _all_ of them," Ginny objected with a touch of amusement to her grim determination, "but I bet Fred, George and Neville will help us, so it all works out for the best."

"Okay." Harry mumbled and tiredly drifted off again.

.

After a four days long heat, Harry was ready to return to classes.

Showing up at breakfast on Friday morning, Harry held her head high with a flat, unamused expression as she weathered the cat-calls and jeers as she walked passed the Slytherin table. The rest of the student population wasn't quite that tasteless, but there were more than one Alpha who gave her an intent, interested once over Harry instantly resented.

When McLaggen slapped her bum when she walked passed him to take a seat and eat something, there was only one possible thing she could do.

Harry's elbow connected with McLaggen's face hard enough that the crunch of his nose breaking echoed in the abruptly silent Great Hall.

"Anyone else want to get handsy?" Harry asked with a cold smile as she faced the rest of the students, ignoring McLaggen's vicious cursing as he tried to stem the blood flowing from his nose, his scent flaring angrily all the while.

Harry didn't so much as bat an eye, though she could see a younger Omega -a third year?- flinching away from the overwhelming stench over at the Hufflepuff table.

"McLaggen, if you don't stop stinking up the whole Hall, I'll break something else." She threatened casually, feeling perfectly vindictive when the idiot flinched ever so slightly and muttered something about going to the Hospital Wing Harry didn't feel inclined to listen to.

When no one else said or did anything, Harry continued on with breakfast as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

She obligingly indulged George when he demanded a celebratory high-five, feeling fondly exasperated.

"Nice." Ginny complimented her. "Can you break Malfoy's face next?" She asked idly. "He's been making disgusting insinuations all week."

Harry shrugged. "I have no more patience to spare. I am a bloody _person_ not a brooding mare." She said, taking a bite of a plain slice of toast that crunched between her teeth.

In the course of the day, no one else tried to grab her, though there were a handful of Alphas who flared their pheromones when she was close, most likely trying to impress her, attract her interest or something equally retarded.

When had Harry ever implied that she wanted an Alpha to shove their tongue down her throat? Seriously!

When a seventh year Ravenclaw stood himself in front of her, cranking up his scent on what must be maximum capacity, Harry gave him a deadpan stare and told him quite frankly;

"Not interested."

"Damn, Potter." The bloke said, looking reluctantly impressed. "The hell does it take for you to just flare back, huh?"

Harry's unimpressed glare had him raise his hands in surrender and return to his friends, no doubt having lost some sort of bet.

"Merlin's pants." Ron groaned. "Is this how overbearing blokes are when they can't take no for an answer?" He asked, looking pained and embarrassed on behalf of his gender. Even if he wasn't an Alpha, he was still male.

" _Yes_." Harry and Hermione chorused flatly.

"If I ever do something like that, one of you two smack me, okay?" Ron muttered, clearly disgruntled.

Harry got another detention that afternoon from Umbridge, for being 'unreasonably violent'. It said a lot about the woman that she had waited until there were no other professors around to give it to her, because McGonagall hadn't even given Harry a verbal reprimand at breakfast.

In fact, Harry could distinctly remember her Head of House's severe glare aimed at the retreating McLaggen.

Funny, that.

-x-x-x-


	4. Chapter 4

**I was going to manage the full week. FOR THE FIRST TIME! BUT, then I decided that all the people over in the US of A who follow this story deserve a pick-me-up after everything today... yeah. So! A bit of a shorter chapter this time. I think. But hopefully, you'll like it. :)**

 **All the love, to all of you.**

 **Hold Your Head High**

 **Chapter 4**

Christmas came a went, the DA had been going smoothly for quite a while and Harry had even discovered she enjoyed teaching.

Her very strange and obsessive dreams had somehow saved Mr Weasley from dying in the Ministry of Magic, and she got to spend some wonderful time with Sirius, even if they were all cooped up in Grimauld Place.

When they returned, though, things took a odd turn for the worse.

Umbridge had been making sure to get herself more power in Hogwarts for months, with Educational Decree after Educational Decree, making her grip on Hogwarts and everyone in it ever firmer.

When they all returned to Hogwarts, though, Umbridge had a new surprise ready for them all. Probably as revenge for Harry and the Weasley children having all left the school without her permission when Harry had alerted McGonagall and Dumbledore to Mr Weasley's fate.

Either way, Harry wasn't the only staring up at Umbridge with growing incredulity and anger as the woman explained the latest new rule.

"All Omega students will have to wear this mark on their uniform." The woman declared with a wide smile that made her look more toad-like than ever. The teachers sitting by the Head Table behind her were all glaring at Umbridge with hot fury, looking like at least half of them were contemplating outright mutiny.

Even Dumbledore looked angry, and the times Harry had seen that could be counted on one hand and still leave her with fingers left over.

"To make sure that no Omega is taken advantage of, we must all be aware of who they are so that we may keep an extra close eye on them and _protect_ them." She explained sweetly, a girlish giggle audible in her voice. "Now, all Omega students must sit through an obligatory lecture tomorrow night after dinner in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom." Umbridge's gaze found Harry for what she would say next. "Anyone found to be missing will be punished most severely. This is all for your safety, Omegas." She finished with a smile and then walked around the head table with a clear bounce in her step.

"For our safety." Ginny repeated darkly in a quiet voice, exchanging a look with Harry.

Both of them were contemplating whether or not the consequences to flipping Umbridge the metaphorical finger would out-weigh the satisfaction.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Hermione hissed under her breath, giving them both a warning glower, even as she seemed hopping mad over what she had just heard. "We'll talk about this back in the Common Room."

Harry and Ginny were far from happy, but relented when Hermione looked like she wanted to burst into angry tears.

An hour later, every single Omega in Gryffindor -and Hermione and a few other Beta- had gathered in the Common room, wearing grim and or worried faces.

"Like hell I will subject myself to even more of Umbridge's twisted bias." Harry said firmly. She had gotten it up to _here_ with it all by now, and this would just make it all so much worse.

There were a few murmurs of assent from the other Omegas, though looking at them all gathered together like this, it was more than clear just how much of a minority they were.

Harry was the only Omega in their year in Gryffindor, though not it the entire year. There were two in Slytherin -Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass- and two more in Hufflepuff -Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones. As far as Harry knew, none of the girls in Ravenclaw in their year were Omegas.

That made for five Omegas out of all the girls in their year, which was still a rather high percentage. Ginny had told her that it was just her and Luna in all of _her_ year.

All in all, at this point, there were just _five_ Omega in all of Gryffindor, and that wasn't counting the first years, who hadn't started reaching Maturity, and hopefully wouldn't for a while yet. There hadn't popped up any in second year either yet, which was strangely satisfying -personally- for Harry.

There was one timid little third year who had immediately been ensconced in between Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell upon their return to the Common room, both older Omegas had wrapped an arm each over her shoulders, which had made the girl look a little less terrified.

Then there was Ginny, in fourth year, Harry in fifth, and that was all of them with Katie in Sixth year and Angelina in Seventh. She briefly mused that it was a bit strange Gryffindor had ended up with one Omega in each year, but didn't dwell on it. It didn't even come close to the weirdest thing she'd ever heard of or experienced.

So, five Omegas in all of Gryffindor.

Encouraging numbers.

Alicia Spinnet was hanging around in the background as moral support for her two Omega friends, as was Ron, so together with Hermione, their group numbers had risen to eight.

"Alright, listen!" Hermione began, having to raise her voice slightly to gather all of their attentions. "I suggest that you'll accept the- the Omega mark," Hermione grimaced slightly when she said it, "at breakfast tomorrow and wear them that day. You'll go to the lecture in the evening after supper and then we'll have another meeting to discuss what she told you. How does that sound?"

"Why go to the bloody meeting at all?" Angelina growled angrily, tightening her hold comfortingly on the twitchy third year when she flinched slightly at the deep, unexpected sound.

"Because we need to know what she's planning, what she's going to say." Hermione countered seriously. "If we're going to fight this, we need all the information we can get, and going to that meeting will be the easiest place to start."

Angelina gave a grudging nod.

"Like hell I will wear some sort of badge to make it even easier for the Alphas to notice me and drool." Ginny sniffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "'For our protection', yeah bloody _right_."

"I'm not saying you have to continue wearing it once we know what's really going on, Ginny." Hermione explained patiently. "But for now, it's best not to attract Umbridge's attention. More than usual." She added with a stern glare at Harry, who scowled right back.

"Hey! You know I'm going through physical maturation! It's difficult as all hell to keep myself from cursing Umbridge into a slug already!" Harry objected in a voice that was low enough only the Omega in their group would hear her. "And that was before she wanted to put me on bloody exhibition!"

Angelina and Katie's full attentions both snapped to Harry, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Really, Harry?" Katie asked, sounding mildly distraught. "Shit, I didn't know!" She looked like she wanted to pull her into a smothering hug, but Harry gave the Chaser a quick, reassuring smile.

"I'm early." She shrugged. She had mostly made her peace with it now, and it wasn't like she could change anything even if she hadn't.

"Um." The third year cleared her throat in the following silence, looking confused. "What's 'physical maturation'?" She asked, looking like she was already dreading yet another thing to get used to. She'd Matured very recently, Harry recalled.

Angelina sighed, exchanged a long look with Katie, and then leaned down to explain it to the younger Omega in a quiet voice, who quickly blushed bright red and avoided eye-contact from that point onwards.

"It wouldn't be so bad if all the moronic Alphas in this school didn't insist on _pushing me_." Harry growled.

"Hey!" Fred gave an offended cry from where he was lounging close by, he and his twin looking about as furious with Umbridge as Harry and Ginny were. They were both bent over what looked like battle plans covering the table in front of them.

"You, George and Neville are the only Alphas that won't try to smother me in your pheromones, Fred!" Harry shouted back, making the twins exchange displeased glances and Neville to blush bright red when most of the room turned to look curiously at him.

Hadn't people realised that Neville was an Alpha yet?

"That's actually true." Katie mused seriously, sending the twins and Neville a look. "Thanks, guys!" She shouted in their direction, making Fred and George wave distractedly back even as they glared down McLaggen, who had swelled up with what Harry assumed was supposed to be offence at Harry's words. He'd been touchy ever since Harry had publicly broken his nose. Neville just hid his face in his Herbology book, trying to pretend that he wasn't blushing hard enough to match the Gryffindor coat of arms.

"Okay." Hermione continued once she was sure she had everyone's attention again. "How many Alphas are there even in Hogwarts?"

The Omegas all blinked at each other.

"I've never really bothered to count." Harry said slowly, a small frown pulling on her brows. "You know, I've just been generally annoyed at the way almost none of them bother to reign their scents in."

"It should be easy to count." Ginny nodded.

"We'll each cover our own year, then?" Angelina suggested.

"I can try and keep an eye on all the other years, too, since I'm not busy with OWLs or NEWTs." Ginny offered, shrugging at the appreciative looks she received from Angelina.

"I'll help." Katie said with a smile at Ginny.

"That would be appreciated." Angelina sighed. "I can't believe we have to put up with Umbridge my last year." She groaned.

After that, they all drifted apart to discuss things amongst themselves, and Harry and Ginny walked over to sit with Ron, who had saved them all seats by one of the study tables nearby.

"Alright, I can tell you all right away that Malfoy, Crabbe and Blaise Zabini are all Alphas. As is Earnie Macmillian and Zacharias Smith -don't ask me why, he's an ass- in Hufflepuff and Wayne Hopkins, Kevin Entwhistle and Oliver Rivers in Ravenclaw." Harry counted off on her fingers. "Oh, and Neville, of course." She added with a huff. She's almost forgotten her own house. "That's nine Alphas just in our year." Harry sighed.

Why couldn't Alpha and Omega numbers be about equal? That would make things so much easier. Of course, on a planetary scale, the difference was minimal, but in isolated locations like here, the differences could be ridiculous.

She blinked back to the present when she realised that all three of her friends were staring at her.

"What?" She asked, trying to figure out what the matter was now.

"How do you know Rivers is an Alpha?" Ginny asked curiously. "I've never smelled anything off of him, never mind _spoken_ to him."

Harry blinked. "It's sort of obvious to me? I've even started smelling Betas now. It's ridiculous." She muttered.

"Really?" Hermione asked, and of _course_ she looked interested. "What do I smell like?"

Harry eyed her friend with dry amusement. "Like you." She shrugged. It wasn't as easy as that to describe a scent with words. "You smell more like parchment and dust when you've spent a day in the Library, though."

"You do." Ginny agreed, grinning at Hermione's perplexed look. "I never need to ask where you've been when you come back from there."

Hermione sighed, and took out a fresh sheet of parchment to write down the number of Alphas in their year. She'd add on to it tomorrow when the other's had counted their classes.

.

The next morning, one female prefect from each house stood in the door to the Great Hall and handed out Omega badges to their own house-mates as they trickled in for breakfast. They had lists.

Harry reluctantly accepted her badge from the Gryffindor sixth year prefect and grudgingly attached it on her left breast. Like an offensive parody of the prefect badge.

She instantly hated it.

It wasn't like anyone didn't know she was an Omega by now, but that didn't mean she liked to broadcast it! Hence why Harry never flared her scent!

And she also sort of dreaded the reactions from the Alpha population if they _could_ smell her Omega pheromones when they were already this bad when they couldn't.

"Look at the teachers." Hermione whispered to Harry and Ginny a few minutes later.

Harry craned her head to scan the Head Table and almost smiled at the stormy expressions on the vast majority of the professors.

For one moment, she met McGonagall's gaze, and the older witch's mouth thinned even further.

Harry didn't know what her own face showed, but she wouldn't be surprised if the defiance that was practically burning through her was visible in her eyes.

Harry turned to look over the rest of the hall and briefly made eye-contact with Hannah and Susan at the Hufflepuff table, and they looked about as happy about all of this as she and Ginny. Harry made a note in the back of her head to talk to them later.

During the day, Harry confirmed again and again just how _humiliating_ this was.

People had already known pretty well what the people in their own year was, but now Harry could see how the Alphas in the corridors were eyeing older and younger Omegas with curious interest.

It was innocent enough, most of the time, but it still made every single Omega feel like she was on display. Harry could see it in their eyes.

It was a bit odd, but nearly every single Omega Harry passed by all day inevitable met Harry's gaze, as if -somehow- taking comfort from her.

When she brought it up with Hermione, the girl nodded.

"Of course! Harry, people watch you all the time, and I bet a lot of the Omegas have been silently sympathetic to your situation all year. Right now, they take strength from you." She paused, frowning in thought as she tried to find the right words. "I mean, despite all this, despite the jeering you received after your heat, you kept your head high, was entirely unapologetic and broke McLaggen's nose instead of cower fearfully in front of the older Alpha."

Harry frowned.

"I'm not the only Omega in the school who won't take anyone's crap." She pointed out unhappily.

"No." Hermione agreed. "But you are the most visible and vocal one."

At supper that evening, Ginny collapsed into a seat next to Harry with an aggravated huff.

"Hermione, there are three Alphas in my year, which is just pathetic compared to yours." She said.

Harry swallowed her mouthful of food and said, "Pomfrey told me once that many Pureblood families are genetically predisposed to Alpha and Omega children." Well, she had said it about Malfoy specifically, but Harry didn't see why it should be any different for the other Pureblood families.

"That... explains a lot, actually." Hermione mused, and Ginny nodded slowly.

"You guys have a lot of Heirs in your year." She agreed and began to load her plate with food.

"Have you managed to count any other years yet, Ginny?" Hermione inquired when she had written down the names Ginny gave her for her year.

"No. I've been a bit too busy with school."

"It might take a few days, since we can only count them in the corridors, really." Harry agreed.

"'We', Harry?" Ginny questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I figured that if I happen to pass some boys in other years in the corridors, it won't be much of an issue to take a few deep breaths." Harry said casually.

"Man, your nose is frightening." Ginny laughed quietly.

Harry affected an insulted look before the subject was dropped.

The lecture with Umbridge turned out to be just as degrading and infuriating as Harry had been expecting.

That didn't make it any easier to sit through it without exploding, though.

For once, she wasn't the only one.

The younger Omegas all looked mildly terrified of Umbridge (Harry's fury reached new proportions when she saw a second year Hufflepuff practically flinch away from the woman) but Ginny, Harry and anyone older mostly looked incredulously insulted and pissed off the longer the lecture went on.

Even the Slytherin Omegas looked distantly disdainful and outraged by Umbridge's thinly veiled insinuations.

Afterwards, the time approaching ten in the evening, Harry, Ginny, Angelica, Katie and the third year girl, Sarah, all marched back to the Common Room in furious silence.

Well, Sarah was silently crying, but the rest of them were angry enough for it to count as on her behalf.

Hermione, Ron, Alicia and the twins were all waiting for them in the Common Room, took one look at them and carefully didn't say a word as the Omegas stewed.

"I would never do any of those things!" Sarah eventually sobbed out against Angelina's shoulder when she couldn't hold it in a second longer.

"We know. No one actually believes any of that crap other than Umbridge." Katie told the thirteen year old, newly Matured Omega firmly.

"So..." Hermione looked from one hard face to another.

"Basically." Harry began, taking a deep, shaky breath. She was _so_ angry. "Umbridge told us that we aren't allowed to walk around the castle on our own; we need a Beta chaperone. If we're discovered _without_ a chaperone, she'll do something horrible to us. She didn't say that outright, but it was heavily implied." Harry said, voice carefully even. "We're not supposed to be closer than a meter away from any male at any time, absolutely no physical contact. At all." She continued blandly.

"We're apparently supposed to notify _Umbridge_ before anyone else if we're about to go into heat." Ginny picked up, so angry she was nearly vibrating in her seat. "And that bitch will apparently escort us to the Hospital Wing. For _our safety_!" She spat furiously.

"Oh, and we're not allowed to take these lovely little badges off. Anytime. No matter what." Katie added in a pleasant voice that seemed to indicate she was happily contemplating murder. She pointed at the badge on her uniform declaring her an Omega.

"To summarize, what that bloody woman told us was that we are all loose and unreliable and that if we aren't watched over every hour of the day, we'll drag any number of Alphas into the closest broom closet as often as we can." Angelina summarized succinctly, tightening her arms around Sarah, who had stopped crying but hadn't loosened her arms around the older Omega's waist.

Hermione was speechless.

Harry could tell that for once, her friend's thoughts had come to a complete stop.

The first one to recover was Ron.

"That _Bitch_!" He hissed angrily, the tips of his ears turning a bright red to match his hair.

"In a word." Harry said coldly, nodding appreciatively to her friend. "So, who wants to find out what Umbridge's 'horrible' punishment is for breaking her rules?"

Ginny, Angelina and Katie all raised their hands, masks of righteous fury on their faces.

Harry tore off her Omega badge and tossed it to Hermione. Ginny quickly followed suit.

"Hold on to that for me, will you, Hermione?" Harry asked casually. Angelina and Katie exchanged a look and a nod and followed suit.

Hermione mutely found herself holding four Omega badges in her hastily cupped hands, staring down at them with dismayed helplessness.

-x-x-x-

The next morning, the four Gryffindor Omegas walked into the Great Hall together.

They'd told Sarah to keep the badge and do her best to follow Umbridge's stupid rules. The girl was young enough that Umbridge might break her, and it wasn't worth that.

They very pointedly hadn't put on the Omega badges, which were still in Hermione's care, and as they walked in, Harry noticed McGonagall's attention zeroing in on them like she had an extra sense solely for her Lions.

The look on the Transfigurations professor's face when she realised that none of them were wearing Umbridge's stupid badge. She looked like a small part of her was horrified that they were challenging the woman already, but... the rest of her looked fiercely proud.

Umbridge, unlike McGonagall, didn't notice right away, though.

Harry supposed the Toad was sure enough of herself that she didn't even doubt her own authority.

"Girls." The anticipated voice said from behind Harry and Ginny, a girlish giggle accompanying the word. "It appears that you've forgotten your badges." Umbridge said in a loud stage-whisper, as if she didn't want to embarrass them.

"Oh, would you look at that!" Katie exclaimed theatrically, looking down on her own chest with exaggerated shock.

"Oh, no!" Angelina agreed, placing a hand over her heart.

"Terribly sorry, professor!" Ginny added, craning her head to look up at Umbridge with wide, innocent eyes. "It's just all so new I completely forgot!"

"We'll do better tomorrow, professor Umbridge." Harry intoned unenthusiastically. She was the only one not playing up on the innocence, because they had all agreed that Umbridge wouldn't buy it from Harry regardless how well she acted.

Umbridge looked like she had bit into a lemon. "Well, I suppose, since it _is_ the first day." She said reluctantly. "But make sure to remember tomorrow."

"Of course, professor Umbridge." Ginny said with a smile so sweet butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. "It's for our own sakes, after all."

"It's so nice when students realise what's best for them." Umbridge said with a self-satisfied smile and then wandered off to inspect the rest of the Omegas.

All smiles dropped off their faces and Harry, Ginny, Angelina and Katie exchanged dark looks, and then went on their separate ways for classes.

Suffice to say, they did _not_ remember the badges the next day, or the one after that. Or the entire week, actually.

And Harry could _see_ Umbridge's growing rage and frustration at being ignored. It was glorious, but they were honestly just waiting for the witch to snap.

"You are playing with fire, all four of you!" McGonagall told Harry in a quiet voice when she asked her to stay a moment after Transfiguration a few days later.

"Trust me, professor, we know. That's the whole point." Harry told her calmly. "We can't just let her terrify every Omega in the castle into following her degrading rules." She scowled. "The younger kids are already frightened half to death of her and the way the Alphas look at them, but us older ones can actually do something about it."

McGonagall stared at her for the longest time. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and then smiled at Harry.

"I am proud of you, Potter. All of you." She told her and Harry stared, speechless. "That doesn't change the fact that I worry about my Lions."

Harry gave a slow nod.

"We are careful, professor. And we're prepared for the consequences."

And Harry stood by those words. That didn't make it any less humiliating when Umbridge finally caught Harry in the corridors before lunch the next Monday, grabbed her arm in an iron grip and proceeded to drag her into the Great Hall.

Harry knew she was about to be made into an example, but she didn't fight it. This was what they had been waiting for.

Harry endured Umbridge's bruising grip with her head held high.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see that every single Omega in the Great Hall noticed their dramatic arrival and straightened in their seats.

Dumbledore and McGonagall rose to their feet at the sight, serious expressions on their faces.

"Dolores! What _are you going_!?" McGonagall practically screamed as Umbridge manhandled Harry in front of the Head Table so that she was facing the rest of the students.

"THE RULES!" Umbridge screeched, her voice echoing in the Great Hall and making the whole student lot fall silent and turn to stare.

Umbridge had her hand curled tightly around Harry's upper arm, forcing Harry to stand rather awkwardly as the short woman shook her violently.

"The rules are for all of your protection!" Umbridge declared, a rather maniacal glint in her eyes. From this close, her smile looked positively demented. "The Omega badges are _not_ a suggestion, girls!" She said, slapping Harry on the chest where the badge should have been.

Harry scowled at the woman and ignored the few scattered sniggers the action elicited from their audience.

"When _people_ ," Umbridge continue, shaking Harry slightly again, "disregard the rules, there are consequences!"

McGonagall and Dumbledore were hurriedly making their way around the Head Table but Harry was more focused on Umbridge's short stubby wand, which was now pointed directly at her face.

Harry straightened her back, refusing to look cowed in the face of such a threat. She had faced her death at Voldemort's hands with dignity; this was easy in comparison.

Meeting Umbridge's livid gaze with utter calm and fearless determination, Harry didn't even blink when the woman spat a spell and-

Harry felt her hair fall from her head to land around her feet.

She could tell right away that not all hair was gone. Being bald would feel far colder, and it wasn't as horrible as the haircut Aunt Petunia had given her once.

Umbridge was breathing heavily and it sounded loud in the ringing silence.

"Are you done?" Harry asked mildly, almost impressed by her own calm, even voice. "You think cutting my hair against my will will make me wear your degrading, objectifying badge? Like I'm a cow at the fair up for sale?" Harry yanked her arm out of Umbridge's grip. "I'm not a brooding mare you have to protect for future buyers, I am a bloody _person_ , thank you."

And Harry strode down the length of the Hall, nodding calmly to her friends, who were quick to join her and then left.

.

Looking herself in the mirror, Harry considered the buzz-cut Umbridge had given her.

It definitely could have been worse, but that didn't mean she liked it.

"Could you lengthen my hair a little so that I get a pixie cut at least?" She asked Madam Pomfrey, who looked absolutely furious. "There's no point returning it to my former length; she'll just cut it again."

"Of course, dear." Pomfrey scowled -not at Harry- and waved her wand in front of Harry's head.

Her scalp itched as her hair grew a few centimetres.

"I can' _believe_ that woman!" Hermione ranted in the background, pacing back and forth like a caged tiger. "She's crossed so far over the line she can no longer see it in the distance!"

"Is she going to do that with all of us, you think? Or is Harry just a _special_ case?" Ginny hissed angrily. She was clenching and unclenching her hands convulsively, as if she dearly wanted to hit someone.

"There's no telling." Angelina said pensively, having followed their group out of the Great Hall together with Katie. Omega solidarity was now a Thing. "Hey, Madam Pomfrey. Do you think you can do my hair next? Give me a pixie cut like Harry?"

At the incredulous looks she received, Angelina smirked.

"It won't be nearly half as impressive to forcefully cut my hair in front of everyone if it's already short."

"Me too, Madam Pomfrey?" Katie asked next, bumping shoulders with Angelina, giving her a playful wink.

"I've never had short hair." Ginny mused slowly.

"Is this a thing now?" Ron asked. "Are all the Omega in the castle going to do this?"

"That's an idea." Hermione muttered. "It'd be excellent psychological warfare against Umbridge." She continued to mutter to herself and Pomfrey found herself in the unusual position of hair-dresser. She didn't say a single word of complaint, though.

What these children were doing was amazing, and she'd do everything she could to support them. Even if all that amounted to right now was to cut their hair and pretend deafness.

"It'll be far more difficult for her to punish someone if _everyone_ ditches the stupid tags." Hermione declared. "We'll bring it up next time at DA and take it from there depending on how the other Omegas react." Then she paused, sending Pomfrey a glance, but the Medi-Witch was _very_ busy vanishing all the hair on her floors.

"Sounds like an excellent plan." Katie said cheerfully. "Now, how do we look?" She asked, posing what might have been slightly suggestive poses if it wasn't for the playful grin on her face.

"Could you give me a bob-cut, Madam Pomfrey? I think I'd look better in that." Ginny said when it was her turn.

"Of course." Pomfrey frowned slightly at Ginny's waist length hair, before she made a clean, precise swish with her wand and most of Ginny's hair drifted to the floor. Her fiery red hair fell prettily around her face, curling slightly in towards her jaw.

She turned her head slightly back and forth and Harry could see that it was shorter in the back, cropped close to her scalp.

"I like it!" Ginny declared after she had gotten the chance to eye herself in the mirror that Pomfrey had conjured for Harry, initially.

"We all match!" Katie finally declared, a wide grin on her face as she gathered them all together for a group-hug.

"Do you want to cut your hair, Hermione?" Ginny asked, giving the Beta girl a smile, making it obvious that it was perfectly optional.

Hermione looked conflicted. "I really, really would love to," She began, "But my hair short..." She grimaced. "It impossible to manage. It just goes everywhere." She admitted ruefully.

"You're supporting us enough even without short hair, Hermione." Harry assured her, slinging an arm over her best friend's shoulders, squeezing gently. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey!" She added to the Medi-Witch, who eyed Harry seriously a good long while, before she walked up to her and wrapped her in a hug.

"What you girls are doing is admirable, and no matter the outcome, you should all be proud of yourselves." She said seriously, smiling at the group, before glancing at Ron, who stood a little to the side. "You as well, Mr Weasley."

"Omega solidarity, Madam Pomfrey." Harry grinned, squeezing the Matron back briefly, before stepping away.

"You're an Omega?" Angelina asked curiously.

"I think Miss Potter is the first student to have actually asked me in... about a decade." Pomfrey told them with a wink. "But yes, Miss Johnson, I'm an Omega."

"Better not let Umbridge know." Ginny muttered, but gave the the older witch a smile.

They couldn't stay in the Hospital Wing forever, though, and left shortly after, leaving Pomfrey to remove all traces of them having been there.

Moving through the corridors, Harry could feel the stares of the students they passed. But in a good long while, Harry wasn't the only one attracting attention.

Their new hair cuts all garnered their fare share of stares, and the few Omegas they passed all looked thoughtful.

Perhaps they wouldn't have to spread the word to all the Omega, after all? Harry mused.

When they re-entered the Great Hall, the muted conversations of the remaining lunch crowd died completely, but Harry didn't pause in her stride past the other House tables on her way to the Gryffindor one.

She wasn't ashamed.

When she glanced up at the Head Table, half the teachers were staring at her little group of rebels, professor Sprout looking like she was about to burst into proud tears, but neither professor McGonagall, professor Dumbledore or Umbridge were there.

Alicia Spinnet joined them the moment they had sat down.

"Merlin's pants, you should have seen Dumbledore after you left!" She told them in a quiet voice, looking decidedly wide-eyed. "I have _never_ seem him that angry!"

.

A few days later, Harry was walking up to the Owlery to spend some time with Hedwig.

The faint smell of Alpha was what alerted her to the fact that she was not alone in the corridor and Harry looked around, only to spot Blaise waiting for her to notice him a little ways behind her.

"Zabini." Harry greeted neutrally, scanning the rest of the corridor, wondering if this was some sort of ambush.

"Potter." Blaise returned, eyes roaming up and down her body with-

Was that concern?

Harry blinked perplexedly at Blaise. They hadn't really spoken since the Triwizard Ball last year, and Harry wondered what they could possibly have to talk about now. And what was with Alphas ambushing her when she was on the way to the Owlery?

 _Maybe because it's one of the few times I'm actually perfectly alone?_ She thought sardonically to herself.

Harry cleared her throat awkwardly, giving Blaise a questioning look. The silence between them had long since become heavy and tense.

"Was there something you wanted, Blaise?" She asked, taking a chance and using his first name.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Blaise asked, slowly approaching her, as if she was a wounded animal he didn't want to startle.

"Yes." She nodded, reaching up to finger her short hair. "I was sort of goading Umbridge into it."

"You didn't know what she would do." The Slytherin pointed out in a quiet voice, searching her face. Harry shrugged.

"I stand by what I said in the Great Hall, you know." She commented idly, studying Blaise right back. "I'm not a brooding mare to be protected and then sold to the highest bidder."

"I know." Blaise shrugged elegantly, a simple acceptance of her words where most other Alphas in the castle would argue against her point.

Harry sighed. "How's Slytherin treating you?" She asked as she turned and continued on her way to the Owlery, letting Blaise know that it was perfectly acceptable for him to fall into step beside her.

"Pansy's decided to try and snare Draco the forceful way." Blaise said with a smirk. Harry let out a helpless snort.

"The forceful way? What has she been doing so far, then? Been gentle and subtle?"

"Apparently." Blaise's tone was dry and exasperated and Harry couldn't stop herself from laughing if she tried.

"Oh, your poor, poor nose." She patted Blaise comfortingly on the arm, trying to imagine his reaction to Pansy continuously releasing the full force of her Omega pheromones in and around the Common Room.

She started laughing again, despite the slightly betrayed, reluctantly amused look Blaise sent her for it.

-x-x-x-


	5. Chapter 5

**I think my self-control can be counted as something of a lost cause by now. At least I've kept it to one chapter a week, even if there hasn't -so far- been a single instance of me managing to keep seven days between updating.**

 **The story progresses steadily through canon; just a bit more and then we're heading into uncharted waters! (Let's hope no one will wish a painful demise upon me when the time comes...)**

 **Hold Your Head High**

 **Chapter 5**

Shortly before Easter, things got worse again and Harry absently wondered when the universe would give her a _fucking break_.

The DA was betrayed and subsequently discovered by Umbridge, Dumbledore took the blame and was chased out of the castle -admittedly with _style_ \- and Umbridge was appointed the new Headmistress, in addition to being the Hogwarts High Inquisitor.

Life was fun.

The rest of the teachers were suddenly reduced to helpless spectators -even more than before- as Umbridge ran with her reign of terror and oppression.

Harry still refused to wear the damn Omega badge.

The good thing was that the short hair had spread like wildfire, starting with Hannah and Susan in Hufflepuff showing up to dinner with pixie cuts, just like Harry, holding their heads high and Omega badges nowhere on their person to be seen the same day Harry had been _sheared_.

The day Harry saw Daphne Greengrass at breakfast with hair shorter than to her shoulders, she knew that none of the Omega in the castle would ever forget or let Umbridge get away with her atrocious actions.

The slight, respectful nod the girl sent Harry when she walked by the Slytherin table for the Gryffindor one would be something she'd remember for a long time. Harry returned it with just as much dignity as the blonde, Pureblood girl had when giving the acknowledgement.

(Years later, Daphne Greengrass would become a quiet but avid supporter to the Omega Rights Movement Harry and Hermione started after the war, along with her little sister.)

Harry got more detentions, and since she'd been banned from Quidditch -apparently for life, who knew Umbridge had that sort of power?- there wasn't much in the castle to make life easier and a little less depressing any more.

Ginny was in the Hospital Wing for her heat when it happened.

Harry had been explicitly forbidden from going to see her. Umbridge had sneered at the 'indecency' of it and given Harry detention when she caught her in the corridor heading up to visit. Without a chaperone.

That detention dragged on even longer than usual, and it was the middle of the night by the time Umbridge finally let her go and Harry was exhausted.

When she got back to the Common Room, the twins, Hermione and Ron were waiting worriedly for her.

Without a word, Harry held out her bleeding hand to Hermione, who took it with gentle, steady fingers even as the rest of her was vibrating with fearful fury.

"We figured you hadn't gotten to the Hospital Wing when you weren't back by Curfew." Ron said with a shrug at Harry's questioning glance. He eyed her worriedly. "She's never held you back this late before."

Harry shrugged. "She's frustrated that nothing she does is working on bringing me to heel." She said, smiling tiredly at the twins who walked up to her with angry, but concerned looks on their faces.

"We need to step up our game, Gred." Fred said, slinging an arm over Harry's shoulders, like they tended to do.

Harry didn't hear the rest of it, though, because a sharp, painful jolt went through her body the moment Fred's arm connected to her body. And it wasn't fading.

In fact, it was growing stronger and more painful the longer Harry and Fred stayed in contact.

The other's noticed that something was wrong almost instantly, because Harry's entire body locked up and her jaw clenched as she tried to keep in the pained cry that wanted to escape her throat.

"Get away from her!" Hermione's scream finally got through the pain-haze clouding her mind, and sweet, sweet relief a second later made her collapse to the floor.

"Merlin!" Harry heard Ron exclaim. "George, get McGonagall!" And running footsteps raced out of the Common Room.

Harry was a bit too busy catching her breath to pay too much attention to her surroundings, though.

The carpet was really colourful, she noted distantly. She always sort of thought of them as 'red' but there were loads of other colours mixed in there.

Like yellow. Blue. Green. Orange. Purp-

"Potter?" Careful hands touched her face, rolling her onto her back and pushing her hair away from her sweaty forehead. "What happened? Miss Granger?" McGonagall demanded in a worried voice even as she waved her wand over Harry in an attempt to find out what was wrong.

"We don't know!" Hermione sounded like she was crying? Moving her gaze to actually look took gargantuan effort, but yes, Hermione _was_ crying. Why? What had happened? "She'd just gotten back from detention with Umbridge again and then she just- collapsed!"

"I think." Who did that faint, strangled voice belong to? Fred? "I think it was because I touched her." It _was_ Fred. His words were quiet and he sounded like he was in shock.

Harry finally managed to take a deep breath and immediately started coughing, because Merlin it felt like she hadn't been breathing in forever and why was her chest hurting like that?

"Potter, careful now. Careful, Harry. There you go." The low murmur continued as sure hands helped her roll back over on her side to make breathing easier.

Harry logically knew that she hadn't stopped breathing, that she'd been taking shallow breaths almost the entire time, but that didn't stop her from feeling like she'd been suffocating.

She panted until she gagged.

"Now, Harry, what happened?" McGonagall asked when Harry could finally sit up without feeling like she'd throw up and faint.

Harry shuddered.

"I'm not sure, but-" She sent Fred a quick, reassuring glance because no matter what, this wasn't his fault. "it hurt- a _lot_ , when Fred put his arm over my shoulders." She gritted out. She slowly raised a hand in front of her face and scowled at the way it wouldn't stop shaking, not even when she clenched it into a fist.

She turned to meet McGonagall's gaze and she thought that she had never before seen her Head of House looks so pale. She didn't look like she had any answers either.

"I'm so sorry, Harry." Fred said quietly.

"This isn't your fault, Fred." Harry told him firmly, damn near glaring at him until he gave a shallow nod. "I don't know what's going on, but it's not your fault." She repeated. "Can someone help me get up?" She asked next. She wasn't fancying remaining sitting on the floor.

"Yeah." Hermione said shakily, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet even as McGonagall put a steadying hand on her shoulder.

Harry finally took a proper look around and noticed that there were more people in the Common Room than she had anticipated.

Angelina and Katie were both there, hovering anxiously behind Fred, dressed in nothing but pyjamas. A few more in Harry's year had also come down and there were students hovering in the stairs up to the dorms, staring at Harry with wide eyes.

"Great." She muttered under her breath. "Let's see if it really was because we touched." She turned to Fred with firm resolve. Only for the Alpha to take a large, hurried step away from her, white as a sheet in the face.

"No." He breathed, unable to tear his eyes away from Harry's.

Harry frowned at him and then glanced at George, who looked back and forth between Harry and his twin before he took a deep breath.

"Think I can stand in for Fred?" He asked, acting like he wasn't as shaky as Harry was.

Harry gave a grim nod as George held out a hand towards her. She took a stumbling step closer and slowly touched one digit to the tip of George's index finger.

A rush of air escaped her lungs and Harry snatched her hand away as if burned.

"Yeah, definitely not Fred's fault." She said in a strangled voice, a tight look on her face. "That fucking bitch." She added bitterly.

"What are you talking about, Potter?" McGonagall asked, not even reprimanding her for her language.

"Who did I just spend the whole evening with?" Harry asked rhetorically. "And all of a sudden I can't touch an Alhpa?" She snorted derisively. "There's only one person in this castle that've been going on and on about keeping Omega and Alpha religiously separated and she certainly isn't in here."

"You think," Hermione began slowly, fury lighting her blood-shot brown eyes until they looked almost like embers, "Umbridge did something to cause this?"

"I don't see what else it could be, frankly." Harry said, approaching Neville slowly, holding out her hand to affirm that this really applied to all Alphas.

Neville shook his head, but relented in the face of Harry's stubbornness.

"Yep, can't touch you either." Harry panted after a brief touching of fingers.

"Enough." McGonagall said in a trembling voice. When Harry turned to look at her, the woman looked near incandescent with fury. "I'm taking you to the hospital wing, Potter. Hopefully, Pomfrey will be able to remove- whatever _this_ is." She said, indicating Harry and the present Alphas with a hand. "Come, Potter."

Harry gave a nod, because she was still shaking and she wanted to get rid of this as quickly as possible.

.

Pomfrey wasn't able to remove the spell.

"I think it's a modified chastity spell." The Medi-Witch eventually concluded, looking like she wanted to hunt down Umbridge and strangle her. "I can only assume in which ways she's altered it other than to make physical contact with Alphas painful."

"It felt like electricity." Harry said tiredly, rubbing at her own face, before taking a deep breath and straightening her back. "Well, it's got nothing on the _Cruciatus_ so I suppose that's something." She smiled grimly, no real joy in the expression.

The two grown women exchanged a pained look, because the thought of a fifteen year old student knowing what the _Cruciatus_ even felt like...

"I want you to spend the night, Potter." Pomfrey finally said into the tense silence. "Your heart has been under a lot of strain tonight and I want to keep an eye on you. I'll talk to Filius about breaking this spell first thing tomorrow."

Harry nodded, having already resigned herself to this fate.

"Can I at least check on Ginny?" She asked, and Pomfrey's expression softened slightly.

"In the morning, before breakfast." The Matron promised, exchanged another look with McGonagall and then went to prepare pyjamas for Harry to change into and a bed for her to sleep in.

She'd probably have a house-elf bring Harry a fresh uniform in the morning.

.

Harry stalked into the Great Hall the next morning, feeling strangely calm. Oh, there was fury and frustration bubbling away inside her, but it was all distant and carefully secured under a barrier of frightening _calm_.

Harry ignored Umbridge -sitting primly in Dumbledore's seat, as always now- and strode to the Gryffindor table with purpose.

She was gratified that every single Gryffindor Alpha took care to steer well clear of her. Even McLaggen, who continuously sent Umbridge firmly disapproving glares.

Most probably for his own reasons, but the sense of solidarity and support was nice.

When she reached Ron and Hermione, she gratefully sank down to sit in the space they had saved for her between them.

He calm _evaporated_ when she leaned briefly against Ron and had to jerk herself away with a shocked hiss.

Harry was perfectly still for a long moment, staring at a wide-eyed, frozen and deathly pale Ron for a long minute, her face an unreadable mask.

Then, she slowly stood up, grabbed the closest solid object -a golden goblet- and began to walk down the length of the Gryffindor table towards the Head Table.

The moment she was close enough, she _hurtled_ the goblet at Umbridge with all the strength she could manage, before grabbing anything she could get her hands on whether from the Gryffindor or Hufflepuff tables and threw that too, forcing the witch in question to give a startled shriek and dive out of the way of the violent projectiles.

Her magic was roiling wildly just under her skin, but right now, Harry didn't question how some of the objects she threw managed to change course mid-flight, because she was too busy spitting abuse at the _fucking BITCH!_ Her magic assisting her accomplish what she wanted was merely a bonus.

"Miss Potter! Calm yourself!" Someone shouted at her, but Harry was too angry to pay them any attention.

"I CAN'T EVEN TOUCH MY FRIENDS, NOW!?" She roared as she threw another goblet at Umbridge, feeling nothing but vindictive satisfaction when it his her square in the chest and then fell to the floor with a clang.

When Harry nailed Umbridge in the face with a pitcher of milk, the liquid ending up drenching the toad from head to toe, she stopped, panting heavily and feeling fractionally better.

"Detention, Miss Potter." Umbridge said in a would-be-calm voice that was trembling with poorly contained fury.

"Fuck you and your detentions!" Harry spat back. "If you want me there, you're gonna have to bloody track me down and drag me there yourself!" And with that, Harry marched out of the Great Hall., leaving complete and utter silence in her wake.

Anarchy took over the castle after that.

Fred and George confided in her -pointedly without touching her- that they had never wanted to come back for their seventh year, that it was mostly for Mrs Weasley's sake that they had gotten onto the train at all.

They told her that at the start of the year, they had contemplated leaving with a bang to start their own shop.

But then Umbridge had revealed just how twisted she was, her crusade against the Omegas in the castle and-

"We couldn't leave you and Ginny alone to face that, Harry-kins." George said solemnly, and Harry wanted to hug them _so badly_.

"Not to mention Angelina, Katie, and all the others." Fred added in a dark mutter. "At least we can give her Hell as long as we're here."

Harry sighed. "I really want to hug you right now." She said sadly, giving them both a warm smile instead. It wasn't enough, but it would have to do.

Umbridge had graced several other Omega in the castle with her take on the 'chastity spell' by now, which included all the Omegas in Gryffindor other than little Sarah.

Pomfrey and Flitwick were working on a counter spell, but they hadn't had any success quite yet, though the matron had assured her that they were getting closer every day.

Harry had seen a few Alphas lord their new power over some of them, and she had lost her precarious temper too many times to count.

When she came across a muggleborn Omega, Third year Hufflepuff, cowering before a smirking Draco Malfoy, who was casually threatening her with his _touch_ , Harry reached the end of her tether.

"Malfoy." Harry growled, teeth bared in a parody of a smile. "You're pathetic enough that you're threatening children now?" She asked, voice low and damn near feral.

"Watch it, Potter, or I'm going to be forced to touch you too." He smirked, letting his gaze trail down her body in a suggestive manner that wasn't winning him any favour with her. "Might just give you a tight hug."

"Oh, we'll be touching alright." Harry smiled. It was about right then that the blonde Alpha realised that Harry hadn't stopped stalking towards him, was in fact approaching him alarmingly quickly.

The moment she was within easy reach, Harry cocked back her arm and punched him so hard in the face the skin on her knuckles bruised and split.

The pain jolting through her at the skin-to-skin contact was brief but _intense_ but it was still worth it.

Mafloy's pained howl barely registered on Harry's radar as she turned to the Hufflepuff with a tense, but sincere smile.

"Are you alright?" She asked, crouching down a little not to tower over the girl.

"You-You-" The girl stuttered, staring at Harry with wide blue eyes. "Smith touched Hanna yesterday, and she _screamed_." She whispered quietly.

Harry's smile turned grim. "Try not to let anyone corner you alone from now on?" She asked kindly, deciding not to comment on Smith. She'd relate the news to Fred, George, Ron and Neville instead. "I know it's hard, but Umbridge won't get away with this forever."

"Okay." The Hufflepuff said quietly, sniffling a little and Harry patted her gently on the shoulder, before walking her to her classroom.

Harry didn't mind being a bit late to Transfiguration; McGonagall would understand.

.

Then OWLs came around, and Minerva had to be sent to St. Mungo's courtesy of four stunners to the chest. Hagrid was evicted. It wasn't even enough to lift her spirits that the damn 'chastity spell' could finally be lifted, due to Pomfrey and Flitwick's combined efforts.

And then Harry got the vision. Clearer and more painful than any before it.

Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville, Fred and George all went with her, no hesitation as they followed Harry on her reckless mission.

Sirius, coming to Harry's rescue when she hared off -like an idiot- to the Department of Mysteries, straight into the trap, came to save her and ended up paying with his life.

Harry had never...

It hurt. _So much_.

He was gone, because of her, and there was nothing-

Harry didn't take it very well.

At least Umbridge was gone and Harry had never loved Hermione more for being such a vindictive, devious witch. Even if Harry had to take a _Crucio_ before _that_ plan could be carried out; Umbridge's frustrations with her had grown enough that the woman obviously hadn't cared how many laws she was breaking.

Umbridge deserved every. Single. Thing, that happened to her.

There was some sort of poetic justice to the thought of Umbridge at the mercy of some of the creatures she hated and feared the most. The Centaurs certainly held no fondness for the witch.

Nearly the whole castle celebrated when Dumbledore returned, because not even the wizarding world could continue to stick their heads in the sand when they saw Lord Voldemort right before their eyes, in the very heart of the British magical world's seat of power.

It hadn't even been satisfying to see Fudge flounder when he could deny the truth no longer, because Sirius was _gone_ and she had still been throbbing with pain from having been possessed by the Dark _bloody_ Lord.

The very large, almost impressive emotional explosion afterwards in Dumbledore's office was... Harry would come to think of it as the culmination and conclusion to her physical maturation, because after that she felt mostly hollow, but also strangely centred.

Despite the numbing grief, Harry was calm in a way that she hadn't been in years.

The smell of Alpha no longer made her unreasonably angry and it felt strange not to have to struggle for control of her own emotions every time she left her own dorm.

Luna, the quirky Ravenclaw Omega she had gotten to know better in the course of the year, and whom was one of the few who had actually answered Harry's call to join them to the Department of Mysteries, turned out to be a blessing.

It felt so nice to have someone who just understood, to have heard the whispers behind the Death Veil, too.

Harry was resolved to spend more time with her next year.

And so, Harry boarded the Hogwarts Express after the worst year of her life ( _so far_ , she wasn't very optimistic), going back to the Dursleys yet again.

Umbridge would at least never set foot back into Hogwarts, that was for sure.

-x-x-x-

Harry spent that summer mostly in her room, trying not to think about much of anything really.

Dudley was behaving a bit... oddly around her, but the Beta wasn't being offensive about it so Harry was perfectly content to leave him be.

Then Dumbledore came to fetch her from Privet Drive and before the old Headmaster took her on whatever errand he needed her for, he stayed for a brief _chat_ with the Dursleys.

It was... fascinating, to see Dumbledore reprimand the two Betas like misbehaving children (only, no children could really be compared to the Dursley couple) but the casual revelation that Harry was an Omega -something she had been able to keep to herself since she Matured- made Aunt Petunia's face screw up with resentment and intense disgust, and Uncle Vernon's eyes to narrow with enough calculation to make Harry eye him mistrustfully. Dudley just looked vaguely surprised, as if he hadn't really thought about it but it made sense, somehow.

Dumbledore proceeded to lay down the law, so to speak, for the following summer, which all of them knew would be Harry's last in the Dursley's household.

Harry couldn't turn seventeen soon enough.

Then she was whisked away and Horace Slughorn turned out to be one of the most peculiar Betas Harry had met to date.

She couldn't say that she enjoyed being dangled in front of the man like bait, but she supposed she could understand where Dumbledore was coming from.

 _Anything_ to avoid getting another Umbridge.

The school year started and Harry found out that Slughorn was _not,_ in fact, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Something she belatedly realised should have been obvious. Instead, the corpulent, walrus-like man was teaching Potions, and _Snape_ taught Harry's formerly best subject.

She didn't entertain any notions that Snape would let her keep a good grade in any subject he was teaching. The Occulency lessons last year had been disastrous enough that their mutual dislike was even worse.

Regular meetings with Dumbledore, being Quidditch captain, this was turning out to be the most... normal year Harry had ever had at Hogwarts.

That didn't mean that all traces of last years' reign of terror courtesy Umbridge were gone, however.

Ginny had told her that apparently, short hair had become the latest fashion for Omega over the summer, and a lot of their classmates and fellow students still wore their hair cropped short with pride.

Angelina had graduated together with Fred and George, which meant that Harry, Ginny, Katie and Sarah were now the only Omega in Gryffindor. At least for a while.

Then, shortly before Christmas one of the third years disappeared to the Hospital Wing for a few days and came back an Omega.

Harry was sitting with Hermione, Ron and Ginny in the Common Room, working on an essay, when the girl returned and approached them timidly.

"Um, H-Harry?" The girl inquired, making Harry look up with distracted surprise. The younger students hardly ever addressed her directly. "I-" The girl stuttered slightly, took a deep breath and then straightened her back. "I'm an Omega now." She said quietly but firmly.

Harry exchanged a confused look with Ginny, but nodded. "Congratulations." She smiled. Maturation wasn't much fun, but at least other Omegas understood.

"Would you like to sit down with us?" Ginny offered, scooting to the side slightly so that the girl could take a seat between the older Omegas if she wished it.

The girl looked pale and a little intimidated, but took the seat nonetheless.

Hermione and Ron both acted like they were completely immersed in their studies.

"Was there something you wanted to ask? Any questions?" Harry asked carefully after a while, where it looked like the little girl was trying to work up the courage to say something. "You know that Madam Pomfrey is happy to help, right?" Harry added with some concern.

"No, I- I know. Pomfrey already spoke to me." The girl muttered embarrassedly. "I just-" She shrugged a bit helplessly and then forged on. "Does this mean I have to cut my hair short now?" She blurted, looking mortified a second later when she realised those were the words that had just come out of her mouth.

Harry gave a slow, bemused smile, shaking her head. "No, it doesn't." She laughed a little at the suddenly disappointed girl. "Not unless you want to, of course."

"I- I just, watched everything last year and I was so scared of- of this happening then." The girl confessed quietly, looking shamefaced.

"Hey, you have nothing to look like that for." Ginny assured her firmly, slinging an arm over the new Omega's slight shoulders. "Umbridge was a bitch and we all decided that the younger Omegas should stay well out of it. If you had Matured last year, all of us, regardless of House, would have done our best to protect you." She said fiercely.

And it was true. For the Omegas in the castle last year, House had mattered less and less the more outrageous and out-of-control Umbridge had become.

"I, um- I-" The girl stammered, looking like she was about to cry and Harry exchanged a distraught glance with Ginny. "I just wanted to tell you that I admire you a lot and want to become an Omega just like you!" The girl squeaked, face bright read but resolutely meeting Harry's gaze, before quickly glancing at Ginny to include her, too.

Harry was baffled.

"I'm... flattered." She finally said, smiling helplessly at the girl, who beamed at her in response. "We always need more Omega to make sure the Alphas don't get too full of themselves." She joked, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the clear hero-worship on the third year's face.

"Us Omega need to stick together!" Ginny added cheerfully, giving Harry a wickedly amused grin.

"Can I ask you some questions?" The girl said next, looking excited now, despite her face still being bright red. "I-I mean if I have any questions about being an Omega?" She hastily added at Harry's flabbergasted look.

"Sure." Harry replied faintly.

"Thank you! Oh, and I'm Emma Matteson, by the way." She said belatedly, looking mortified at having forgotten to introduce herself first. And then she had rushed off, her face somehow even more red than it had already been, across the Common Room to join her friends.

Harry, feeling entirely lost, turned fully to face Ginny, Hermione and Ron, who were all looking at her now.

"Well." Hermione said, looking amused. "It must be nice to have fans for something you can _actually_ remember doing?"

"I didn't do anything special!" Harry hissed, feeling mildly panicked, for some reason.

Ron gave her an incredulous look. "Harry, mate, you practically instigated an Omega rebellion by yourself."

"I wasn't the only one." Harry argued, brows pulling together into a frown.

"No, but if you weren't here, none of the others would have dared take that first step." Ginny said sensibly. At Harry's pointed look, she rolled her eyes. "Harry, if you had never come to Hogwarts, I wouldn't have lived passed eleven, so I wouldn't have been able to do anything against Umbridge."

Harry couldn't help but stare at Ginny.

"Most people seem to have forgotten, and don't get me wrong, I _like_ that, but my whole first year still happened, you know."

Harry frowned down on her half-finished essay. "I still don't like it when people give me all the credit for something that all of us worked together to do. I mean, Ron and Hermione helped loads too and they're Betas." She muttered.

"Oh, Harry." Hermione sighed. "You're not giving yourself even close to enough credit." She smiled with fond exasperation.

Harry grimaced and pointedly turned back to her homework, dropping the subject.

.

Ron somehow ended up in a relationship with Lavender Brown.

Harry had been there to watch it happen -with horrified fascination- and she still wasn't sure how exactly that had come to pass.

Hermione... hadn't taken it all that well.

Harry tried to be supportive to both of them, but in the end, this was something the two would have to work out on their own.

Harry, on her end, was left to wonder what to do about the Slug Club event she'd been invited to and couldn't quite ignore. That was the down-side to it all being hosted by a professor.

With a deep sigh, Harry went through all the possible candidates she could imagine going with as her date.

Fred and George had graduated, so she couldn't ask either of them. Neville was a possibility, but while the Alpha was nice and smelled perfectly pleasantly, Harry wasn't all that interested in anything more than friendship.

In the end, she found herself with just one appealing candidate and set to work tracking him down.

"Hello, Blaise." Harry greeted as she slid into the seat next to the Slytherin boy where he was reading by a Library table.

Blaise carefully noted on which page he was, put his book down and turned to face her.

"Harry." He sounded amicable enough, curious even, as he eyed her where she'd slumped bonelessly in the chair next to him. "What brings you here?" He asked politely.

Harry rolled her eyes a little. "You." She said frankly. "What are you doing this weekend?"Harry cut straight to the chase.

Blaise eyed her for the longest time. "This is about the Slug Club party?" He questioned mildly and Harry nodded.

"I wanted to ask if you'd like to go together."

Blaise looked interested, behind the neutral mask he had perfected to an art by now.

"Like a date?" Blaise raised a challenging eyebrow, and Harry eyed him with dry amusement. It was phrased like a question, but Blaise still managed to make it into a statement.

"Yes, Blaise. Like a date." She assured him patiently.

His lips curled into a slow, pleased smile. "I look forward to it, Potter." He said, sounding so remarkably like Malfoy in that precise instant that Harry couldn't hold back the snort.

"Dear Merlin, I've created a monster." Harry mused dryly, smirking at Blaise with amusement. Blaise winked at her and turned back to his book.

Harry left the Library laughing under her breath and wondering what a proper date with Blaise would be like.

The Slug Club party was largely as Harry had envisioned; Slughorn showing her off like a favourite trophy to his varied guests.

Blaise made it better, though.

His quiet, witty commentary on the other guests was highly entertaining.

He even helped Harry help Hermione with her date.

"No offence, Granger, but your date is atrocious." Blaise commented blandly where he was helping Harry shield Hermione from view as McLaggen walked by, looking for her.

"That was sort of the point." Hermione mumbled as she peered around Harry to make sure the oaf was gone. At Blaise's raised eyebrow, she eventually elaborated. "I was going to ask Ron, but he was being a complete git and I ended up asking the one person he'd find the most annoying."

"You should have asked Draco, then." Was Blaise's offhand answer.

Harry and Hermione both choked on laughter.

McLaggen then chose to march up to them -presumably to ask Harry if she'd seen Hermione- but Blaise positively _bristled_ and scowled warningly at the other Alpha. Who was flaring his scent particularly strongly, Harry realised belatedly, a little wide-eyed as Blaise took half a step ahead of and in front of her.

She hadn't really noticed, because McLaggen was _always_ projecting his scent in varying strengths, but Blaise evidently took offence this time.

At the sight of the hostile Slytherin Alpha, McLaggen faltered enough for Harry to lean slightly to the side to look around Blaise and raise a pointed eyebrow at the seventh year Gryffindor.

It should be painfully clear by now that Harry had no desire what so ever to talk to McLaggen.

McLaggen looked at her a second, eyed Blaise again and then seemed to think better of it, because he turned and headed in another direction without a word.

The moment the majority his smell had faded, Blaise snapped himself out of most of it with the shake of his head.

"He's too old to be flaring like that without realising the consequences." He practically growled as he tried to soothe his own instincts.

"Harry, you should calm him with your scent." Hermione said helpfully, turning to Harry, who stared incredulously back. "I read that it's one of the most effective ways to calm a riled up Alpha." She explained, looking pleased and excited. (Harry was vaguely sure that that was supposed to be true mainly about _Mates_ , but apparently, Hermione had taken it as a universal rule.)

Harry awkwardly didn't glance at Blaise, who was still looking like he wanted to stomp after McLaggen and punch him in the face. (Harry could ascertain that it was just as satisfying as it seemed.)

"Hermione, do you have any idea what my scent would do in a place like this?" She hissed at her friend, who didn't seem worried at all.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Harry. I didn't mean to crank it up all you can! Just enough to calm _him_ down before he does something stupid where all the teachers and guests can see." Her friend said, pointing at Blaise, who was still glaring in the direction McLaggen had disappeared in, like this was a very simple situation and Harry was being difficult on purpose.

Harry sighed.

Then, she shifted so that she was standing as close to Blaise's side as she could without actually hanging off his arm, and let out a very small fraction of her pheromones into the air around her.

The reaction was instant.

Blaise stiffened, glare melting off his face as he turned towards her, looking like he had forgotten that McLaggen even existed. Harry awkwardly endured his amazed stare and then let him wrap his arms possessively in a loose hold around her so he could lean his chin on her head and positively _purr_.

Hermione's satisfied, "I told you!" was promptly ignored.

Harry couldn't say she particularly enjoyed being continuously inhaled like an expensive perfume, but at least Blaise was inoffensively discreet and subtle about it. He'd also released enough pheromones of his own that Harry didn't have to worry about anyone else smelling her and being a moron about it.

She was doing this to _avoid_ a fight, not instigate an all out brawl.

She deserved an award for her patience.

When ten minutes had passed and Blaise still hadn't stepped away from her and looked like the cat that ate the canary and then got the cream, Harry let out a tired, long-suffering sigh and sent Hermione an accusing stare.

Hermione had the decency to look sheepish, at least. The fact that she also looked exceedingly amused was beside the point.

Then Ginny turned up -having received an invitation of her own- took one look at Harry and Blaise and joined Hermione in watching the evening unfold.

"He's gonna ask you out to Hogsmead the moment he snaps out of it." Ginny remarked idly, making Harry turn a glare on her. "What? He will! Look at the look on his face!"

Harry couldn't really get a good look on him from her angle, but she was sure Blaise was looking positively lethargic, because that was what it felt like. He smelled more relaxed than Harry had ever found him before.

The fact that he did just as Ginny had guessed when he finally snapped out of idiotic-Alpha-mode did nothing to improve Harry's mood.

That didn't stop her from accepting, though.

.

Harry spent a very nice day in Hogsmead with Blaise.

She was fairly sure that neither of them were really in love with the other, but Harry was... fond of Blaise, in a way she had never felt for an Alpha before.

Don't get her wrong, she loved Fred and George, but it was in a purely family-like way. They were her older brothers, in a sense, and she never wanted them to be anything less.

Neville was very nice too, but he was a close, dear and trusted friend now, where he had been a more distant one before.

There were just some things you couldn't live through without becoming close. It'd been like that with Hermione, and the same with Neville and Luna.

Thinking about it, Harry realised that most of her friends were like that.

Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna.

Ron and her had been friends since the very start, and after the things they had done, had accomplished and survived together, she couldn't see them ever parting ways.

The day ended with Katie Bell in the Hospital Wing, cursed by a necklace Harry felt she had seen before, somewhere.

Harry and Blaise parted ways on not the best note -not that it was either of their fault, but watching someone partially succumb to a lethal curse did that- but decided to try and spend more time together.

Not everyone approved of their new relationship.

Harry didn't understand what the deal was, really, because it's not like no one had ever seen her and Blaise together? The Triwizard Yule Ball, anyone? But if Harry had to curse a few idiots more than usual, that wasn't really much of an issue.

A lot happened in the course of the year. Harry had regular meetings with Dumbledore, the recurring, poorly planned attempts on the Headmaster's life, Ron getting first dosed with Love Potion and then poisoned. Harry almost, accidentally killing Draco. (That was the last time she ever used a spell she wasn't _sure_ exactly what it did.)

In the end, Harry was right about Draco after all, and the idiot let Death Eaters into the castle.

Bill was mauled by Greyback, Dumbledore... died.

Nothing would ever be the same.

At the same time, Harry had discovered that she very much enjoyed kissing.

That was nicer to focus on than Dumbledore being dead. Yet another parental figure in her life gone. Dead, _murdered_ before her eyes.

Everything was just... falling apart and Harry... Harry would have to deal, somehow. Do what Dumbledore had slowly revealed, told her had to be done.

There were Horcruxes out there and no one but Harry, Ron and Hermione knew about them now.

"Harry."

She was jerked out of her dark thoughts where she sat out on the grounds, staring out over the lake. She turned to face Blaise.

"Hey." She greeted wearily, rubbing a hand over her face and made the effort to smile at him. Dumbledore's funeral was hours passed, but Harry hadn't been able to make herself go back to the castle.

"I've been looking for you." Blaise said, slowly easing down to sit in the dirt beside her. Harry smiled slightly at the very carefully not disgusted expression on his face. Blaise and dirty clothes didn't exactly mix.

"Sorry. I just-" Harry turned back to stare at the lake, "needed to get away for a while."

"Things will be different now." Blaise said, sounding like he thought that was a perfectly logical leap of thought.

"I don't think this thing we've had this year will survive the train ride back to London." Harry eventually said, a wry note to her voice. "We both knew it wasn't going to last forever." She said, glancing at the Alpha, who nodded with regretful amusement.

"True." He sighed, slinging an arm over Harry's shoulders. "It' been fun, though. Who knew you were such a fascinating person, Potter?" He joked lightly.

Harry huffed a laugh and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I don't think we should be seen talking after this." She eventually said, after a long pleasant silence. Blaise glanced at her, but Harry pressed on before he could open his mouth. "You've probably realised, but this means war, Blaise."

"I have, yeah."

"Then you should know that being close to me will be exceedingly dangerous."

Blaise sighed and let his head fall on top of Harry's with a gentle thunk.

"It was nice while it lasted." She could hear the sad smile in his voice. "But we both knew it was temporary." He was silent a few minutes and then added. "It will be hard to find another Omega who smells as nice as you, though." He joked, laughing outright at the elbow Harry jammed into his side in retaliation.

"Obnoxious." Harry growled, mostly teasingly.

-x-x-x-


	6. Chapter 6

**WARNING: This chapter makes the M-rating justice! I don't want to spoil anything, but you might want to keep this in mind as some scenes could be triggering.**

 **Now that that's taken care of, I'd like to point out that I've been cursed! A Guest reviewer cursed me so that I will be unable to wait a full seven days between updating! This is very good, because this means I now have a passable scapegoat besides my poor self-control! :D (Please excuse me, it's late and I'm very tired.)**

 **Hold Your Head High**

 **Chapter 6**

It was war.

Hedwig and Moody died first, while getting her away from Privet Drive. Apparently, Voldemort killed the retired Auror himself.

George lost an ear and Fleur and Bill got married.

The wedding was beautiful. Right up until it was invaded by Death Eaters shortly after the Ministry fell.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were on their own after that.

Bless Hermione's scheming heart, because she was the only reason the three of them got away from the Burrow with anything more than just the clothes on their backs.

Harry had planned to get away from there shortly after the wedding, but that didn't mean she kept all her things on her. Something Hermione's had taken into consideration.

Things were... tough after that.

She knew there were Horcruxes out there, but. Where was she supposed to start looking?

Harry wanted to go to Godric's Hollow, but she was out-voted. She knew Voldemort would most likely expect her to go there, but Harry felt she _had_ to. She couldn't help it. That was where everything had started.

They infiltrated the Ministry, got the locket -finally- and Harry couldn't help but get at least _some_ of the Muggleborn out of there: they wouldn't be able to plead their case when people like _Umbridge_ were in charge. That woman belonged in Azkaban and nowhere else.

Scrimgeour was an idiot for having kept her. Never mind all the other things he'd done or not done.

The strange monotony of being on the run was soon interrupted by something annoyingly inconvenient.

"Hermione." Harry whispered, shaking her friend awake in the middle of the night.

"What?" Hermione mumbled, practically in her sleep and Harry shook her harder. "What is it, Harry?" She finally groaned when she was actually awake enough to realise that it was in the middle of the night and she should have been able to sleep for hours more. "Go back to bed," she added, closing her eyes and pressing her face into her pillow.

"I can't sleep," Harry panted lightly, grimacing with acute discomfort.

"Does that have to mean I can't sleep either?" Hermione's muffled voice demanded from her pillow.

"Hermione!" Harry _whined_.

...that was a first.

Hermione slowly raised her head to look at her and Harry met her gaze with about equal amounts of embarrassed incredulity as her friend.

"You're in heat, aren't you?" Hermione's voice was entirely flat.

"Yes!" Harry groaned, letting her face connect with Hermione's bed. "Please let me cuddle you or I'll- I'll," she smothered a frustrated -rather quiet- scream into the comforter. "I'll lose my mind!"

"Will you let me sleep?" Hermione asked, sounding entirely done with the whole conversation already.

"Yes!" Harry instantly agreed, her head jerking up from where it had been resting to stare pleadingly at Hermione with glazed eyes.

Hermione stared at her for one long second, before she gave in with a tired sigh. "Fine. Get in," she said, lifting her comforter enough that Harry could slip in and wrap as much of herself around Hermione as she physically could while still leaving the two of them comfortable enough to sleep.

Well, let _Hermione_ sleep. Because Harry was an Omega in heat and her life _sucked_.

Hermione grumbled a little as they settled down, but it didn't take long for her to slip back into deep sleep.

Harry bit back a sigh and buried her face in the side of Hermione's throat. Her Beta friend's scent was relatively faint, but familiar and well-loved. It helped relax her.

Hours later, Harry was brought out of the daze-like state that was fairly familiar by now when Ron came inside at the end of his watch.

She lay next to Hermione a long while, listening to Ron move about in the tent, going through his morning routine. (Though, technically, he hadn't slept, so was that _evening_ routine?) When Ron approached Harry and Hermione's beds to wake Harry for her turn to keep watch, he paused and then quickly leaned down to wake Hermione.

"Hermione! Harry's isn't in her bed!" He hissed, alarmed and wide awake.

Hermione was awake from one moment to the next, sitting up before she had properly opened her eyes.

"What!?" She exclaimed, panic seeping into her expression.

The two were about to work themselves into full-blown panic, and Harry groaned into the mattress.

"Guys," Harry muttered, closing her eyes and curling up on herself. "I'm right here."

Ron relaxed. Then, he really looked at her.

Harry got a brief glimpse of Ron's beet red face before he had scrambled away from her as soon as possible, as if he expected her to jump him.

Harry scowled in his general direction, burrowing herself more firmly into Hermione's bed.

"Rude," she muttered grumpily.

Hermione sighed.

"Ron, Harry is in heat," she explained, perhaps a bit redundantly. "That doesn't mean she's going to assault you." Her voice was long-suffering and impatient and Harry snorted derisively at the mere thought.

Ugh. No offence to Ron, of course, but first of all, he was her best friend and practically her brother. Second, she wasn't interested in him like that. At all. And third, he was a Beta and his scent did nothing for her.

It didn't even have to do with him not being an Alpha; she could still smell his scent.

"Um," was Ron's eloquent response. "Males aren't supposed to be close to Omegas in heat!" He finally managed to defend himself, his ears still bright red.

Harry grumbled and pulled Hermione's comforter up to her ears.

"Not interested unless cuddles," she mumbled, feeling her small bout of energy fading back into lethargy again.

Distantly wondering what a heat might be like with an Alpha she liked, Harry tried to sleep despite her better knowing. She barely reacted when Hermione got out of bed with a heavy sigh.

Hours later, after two full turns of changing the watch, Hermione took her turn on watch -again- and Ron came into the tent for some rest.

Harry dragged herself into an upright position and followed him into the kitchen. When Ron turned around, Harry was standing right behind him, ready to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Ah, Harry?" Ron asked after a tense silence where the red-head hadn't moved a single muscle, hardly even to breathe. "What are you doing?"

"Cuddling," Harry sighed, feeling less unsettled and uncomfortable with someone else physically close. She tightened her arms on Ron. "Don' wanna be alone."

Ron was frozen for a few seconds longer, before he relented with a long-suffering sigh.

Harry missed Ginny; at least _she_ understood.

"Fine. Come on, I'm dead on my feet so we'll sit down on the sofa," Ron said, sounding like he had just agreed to take a curse for her.

Harry loosened her hold enough for them to shuffle out into the living room and when Hermione finally came inside to check on them, she couldn't quite stifle a snicker in time, and Harry cracked open one eye to peer at her.

She and Ron were crammed onto the sofa, lying next to each other. Ron's head was supported by the armrest and he was snoring softly. Harry had her arms wrapped around his waist, their legs were firmly tangled together and her head was resting on his chest, rising and falling with Ron's every breath.

She was fairly content right then, and Hermione's sniggers barely even faced her.

"I wish I had a camera," she heard Hermione whisper to herself.

.

The Horcrux locket ended up taking a bigger and bigger toll on them all, and Ron just happened to be the one who was the most affected, the one who cracked first.

No matter Hermione's reaction, Harry was determined not to hold it against him when Ron eventually came back.

Merlin knew Harry had made her fair share of mistakes!

The tent with just Harry and Hermione felt far too empty, and there was a constant _knowing_ that Ron was gone clogging the air between them.

Harry wasn't in heat, but she still slipped into Hermione's bed every night, because she couldn't stand hearing Hermione cry without doing anything, and hugging her friend close at least made it feel like Harry helped a little.

Before they knew it -or as it was, _didn't_ \- it was Christmas and Harry and Hermione went to Godric's Hollow. Finally.

It was a disaster.

Harry got to see her parents' graves for the first time in her life. That didn't really outweigh the fact that Nagini -disguised as Batilda Bagshot- almost killed her, bit her arm hard enough to leave it a painful purple for days afterwards, and that wasn't even counting the rows of punctures from the teeth in her skin, before it slowly faded to green. Not to mention the bruises on the rest of her. Hermione had later been forced to cut the locket off her with a severing charm where it had been pressed -seared- into her chest by the damn snake's powerful coils.

And then Voldemort arrived.

They got away, by a hair.

The dread she felt, knowing that she had practically handed Voldemort the answer to his questions on a silver platter... _Given_ him a way to track down the Elder Wand. It haunted her.

It obviously didn't help that her own wand had been snapped -accidentally- by Hermione.

For a while, things were even harder.

Then Harry followed what she believed was a Patronus out into the forest, found the sword of Gryffindor, almost died, was saved by _Ron_ , the Horcrux locket was destroyed and Ron had confronted and vanquished his worst fears.

A while after that, Harry's stubborn stupidity led their wards to fall and Snatchers to appear around them.

Hermione had made sure that Harry's hair was a chestnut brown rather than black since before their trip to Godric's Hollow, thanks to Muggle hair dye products, so she wasn't instantly recognizable. The Wizarding world knew her with black hair.

Her green eyes would have been a problem if Hermione hadn't managed to make them murkier with a spell she had found, until they looked more brown and less... eye-catching.

The fact that the Snatchers didn't immediately recognize her was a near-miracle in itself, despite Hermione's efforts. But having been found with a red-headed Beta male, and a bushy-haired Muggleborn Beta female was enough to cause suspicion.

And that lead them to being brought to Malfoy Manor.

Harry watched with mounting panic as the Snatchers and Death Eaters argued about what to do with them.

She got to see Draco for the first time in almost a year, and the Alpha did not look like he was enjoying life at the moment. He even surprised her by not identifying her, saying he couldn't know for sure.

"But that is certainly the youngest Weasley whelp! And the Mudblood Potter is known to consort with!" Bellatrix declared hotly, pointing first at Ron and then at Hermione.

Harry hadn't opened her mouth since the Snatchers had grabbed them; she didn't want to make it easier to identify her, and plenty of Death Eaters had heard her voice. But Fenrir Greyback lurking in the back of the room, damn near circling them with a greedy look on his disgusting face made her want to snarl.

Harry, wanting to glare straight into Bellatrix's eyes, was careful to avoid looking at her altogether. Staring into one of Voldemort's most devoted follower's eyes was something Harry Potter would do.

It didn't do much to stop the slow, malicious grin spreading on Bellatrix's face until it looked like it'd split it from ear to ear.

"Werewolf, Potter is an Omega," she said, looking a stomach-curdling mix of smug and enraged. "Confirm her scent," she ordered with a grin.

Harry tensed when Greyback stalked closer, sidling up to her and jerking her close with a clawed hand tangled in the front of her shirt.

In response, Harry shuddered with disgust and clamped down even harder on her scent when the Werewolf buried his face in the side of her neck and took a deep breath, going so far as to lick her skin. The damp strip from her collarbone to just below the ear made her want to gag, and it didn't even have all that much to do with the werewolf's repulsive stench.

"Definitely Omega," the... _man_ rumbled with a leer and Harry couldn't help but bare her teeth. It wasn't a smile. Not even close to it. "Let me have her before handing her over to the Big Man."

"Filth like you have no rights to demand anything!" Bellatrix shrieked, brandishing her wand threateningly at the werewolf, who bared his teeth with a growl, hand clenching in Harry's shirt possessively. "The Dark Lord hasn't even graced you with his Mark!" The woman sneered contemptuously.

Greyback looked murderous, but did let go of Harry, who shakily sagged against Ron and Hermione, tied on either side of her.

Bellatrix eyed her shrewdly a moment, before she noticed Gryffindor's Sword in the hand of one of the Snatchers and completely lost the last shreds of her mind.

After a few minutes' panicked chaos, Bellatrix had reasserted her control over the situation and prevented Lucius from calling Voldemort with his Dark Mark.

"HOW DID YOU GET THIS!?" Bellatrix screamed in Harry's face, shaking her by her shoulders, and Harry wouldn't be surprised if she'd get bruises from the woman's fingers. If she lived that long. "Cissa!" She shouted next, turning to look at her younger sister.

Who -Harry was distantly bemused to note- was wearing her hair cut short, shoulder length, in a show of Omega solidarity Harry wouldn't have expected from the wife of an ardent Death Eater.

"Yes, Bella?" Narcissa asked in a quietly composed voice that felt entirely out of place in this situation.

"There's a potion in my room, standing on the table beside the door. Be a dear and get it for me," Bellatrix said, turning back to Harry to smile ominously at her.

The older Omega hesitated a fraction of a second, her and Harry's gazes meeting across the room, before Narcissa Malfoy called on one of her house-elves.

The Potion was in Bellatrix's hand a moment later.

"You see this, Harry?" Bellatrix asked quietly, holding the potion in front of Harry's face where she couldn't help but look at it. It was a deep, dark, murky green that looked disgusting. Like dirty seawater full of algae and mud. "If you don't tell me how you got the sword, I'm going to feed this to you."

Harry clenched her jaw, glaring right back at the older witch. The older _Omega_.

"I see," she whispered gleefully. "Then you will shortly learn exactly what this potion does." She looked far too happy and excited for the exaggeratedly sad voice she had been using.

When Bellatrix uncorked the phial, Harry clenched her teeth shut. Despite her panicked, shallow breathing, she was resolute not to give the bitch the satisfaction of seeing her squirm.

After some struggle, Harry felt the potion slide down her throat.

He mouth felt bruised and she suspected Bellatrix might have actually loosened a few of her teeth in her quest to get the phial into her mouth.

Ron and Hermione were saying her name, but Harry barely heard them.

The moment the potion reached her stomach, it felt like it ignited the fluids it contained, like a lit match hitting a puddle of petrol. Doubling over as much as she could, Harry panted heavily and wished she would throw up, somehow get the potion out of her system, even though she knew it was most likely too late.

Magic was weird like that.

The fiery sensation spread from her stomach to the rest of her body until it felt like her very blood had ignited.

It was painful, and it made her feel like her body would combust any moment.

The sensory overload was the main reason why she didn't immediately notice. It didn't feel right. Didn't feel like it usually did, like it was supposed to.

Harry panted through the agony of her body _slamming_ into full heat from one moment to the next and she spat out a vicious curse at Bellatrix, who laughed joyfully.

"Werewolf~!" She called happily, nearly singing the word. "It looks like you'll get to have your fun after all. Make sure not to do too much damage; the Dark Lord wants to kill her. But he never said she has to be in perfect condition." She fairly sang.

Barely managing to breathe through the wild panic, Harry was cut loose from the rest of the prisoners with the flick of Bellatrix' wand and dragged away from them by an excited Greyback.

He was far too strong for Harry to be able to fight him off completely, but that didn't mean she'd just lie there like a dead fish and accept her fate.

Harry fought. With everything she had.

Ron and Hermione were screaming, even as Wormtail dragged them and the others away to the dungeons.

She lost track of what was happening around her for a while, because Greyback was trying to get her out of her clothes.

Harry was on her back on the floor with the despicable man crouched over her.

Clawed fingers were on her skin, scratching her in places when Harry refused to lie still. It was fairly satisfying -even in the haze of full-blown panic and agonizing heat- when she managed to kick the werewolf squarely in the face, something crunching slightly under the sole of her shoe.

Greyback stumbled back a step and growled angrily in response, grabbed her throat and lifted her off the floor with frightening ease, before slamming her into the closest wall. Which was much nearer than she had expected.

It was enough to stun her momentarily, and abruptly, everything stopped.

"You just need to tell me, Harry," Bellatrix whispered lovingly, caressing Harry's face in a mockery of a motherly touch. "How did you get into my Gringott's Vault? Did you take anything else?"

Harry bared her teeth and snarled in the older Omega's face.

Bellatrix's smile slipped off immediately. "Fine," she sneered. "I hope you'll enjoy yourself." And she stepped back to let Greyback resume his _fun_.

The grip on her throat tightened until she couldn't breathe and Greyback leaned into her face, the werewolf's body trapping her between his chest and the wall.

"It will be fun to break you," Greyback said, before pressing his mouth on hers in a crushing press of lips -she refused to call it a _kiss-_ that made Harry double her struggles and simultaneously want to gag.

She was fairly sure she had scratched the man's hand around her throat deeply enough to draw blood and she -somehow- managed to elbow him in the throat hard enough for him to let her go with a snarl.

Harry collapsed to the floor in a pile of trembling limbs and hacking coughs, desperately trying to suck air down to her screaming lungs, ignoring how raw her throat felt. The potion and sheer disgust was making her stomach roil.

She felt like her insides were burning up, and the room around her looked blurry.

A clawed hand grabbed her ankle and she was dragged away from the wall.

Harry kicked wildly with her free leg and didn't stop even when she felt it connect with something solid, drawing a curse from the man currently assaulting her.

A fist connected with her face, hard enough to make her vision black out a few seconds, and it was enough to let Greyback pin her down and straddle her thighs.

The moment she regained her senses, she tried to buck him off but he was too big and heavy -probably more than twice her weight- to even move him.

"Get off!" Harry tried to keep the words in, but they were out before she could stop them. She hardly recognized her own voice. "Don't touch me! _NO_!"

Because Greyback had just grabbed her shirt like he was going to rip it off her with a look of sick delight on his face.

Harry was in too much pain, was too disoriented to properly follow everything that happened next.

She caught enough to know that Dobby had come to save them, though.

Greyback was magically flung across the room hard enough to crash into the far wall and not get up again.

Harry was left sprawled on the floor.

Then Ron and Hermione were there.

She didn't know how she managed, but Harry was on her feet and moving again. There were wands in her fist -three of them?- and she shouted for either of her two friends to grab the sword; they _needed_ it!

Dobby got them out of there, away from Malfoy Manor, but at the cost of his own life.

Harry held him in her feverish hands while he died, keening with grief and burning agony.

Everyone she loved always ended up dead!

Harry told the house-elf just how much he meant to her, the impact he'd had on her life and thanked him for saving them before he was a gone, and- and-

The smell of Alpha made her instantly jerk away from the hands reaching for her, chuck whatever was in her hand in the face of her attacker, clutching Dobby's body to her chest, scrambling away with fully re-ignited panic.

There were raised, arguing voices not too far from her but Harry couldn't focus enough to understand what they were saying.

It wasn't until she leaned to the side and puked her guts out that the arguing stopped and a familiar voice was talking to her soothingly. It was shaking, but Harry allowed it close enough to touch.

Harry flinched away from the hands on her body with a shudder and another wave of nausea that was strong enough to make her gag. There was nothing left for her to throw up, though.

The scent was faint, but it was enough for her to identify Hermione and Harry slumped into her Beta friend's arms with a sob.

Hermione was talking to her, sounding like she was crying almost as hard as Harry was, but Harry couldn't understand the words.

"Hurts," she managed to force out and she hoped to Merlin that she had made herself understood, because then there was only darkness.

.

The next time Harry woke, she was lying curled up on something soft.

The thing that woke her was the acute pain shooting through her stomach, as if someone had just stabbed her with a red-hot blade.

She didn't realise she was screaming until the door slammed open and someone rushed inside.

Harry was in so much pain she didn't even twitch at the sudden intrusion.

Hands were trying to make her untangle from the tight, tight ball she had curled into but Harry wanted none of it. She had to fight, she wouldn't do what the hands wanted!

"NO!" The word was barely audible, just another scream tearing from her raw throat.

She struggled weakly against the hands, against the pain and the overwhelming terror that was filling her mind.

 _This was wrong, WRONG! Everything was so, so wrong! This was wro-_

With a red flash of light, her thoughts cut off abruptly and Harry sank back down into unconsciousness.

.

She had no idea how much time had passed by the time she woke and realised she was mostly back to herself.

Harry managed to push herself upright in the bed she found herself in. She was still wearing her dirty clothes, and she was tangled in the blanket that had presumably been placed on top of her at one point.

The effort of remaining upright was enough to make her shake.

Everything hurt, her whole body was hurting like all of her was one big bruise.

It took a while, but she managed to get out of bed and stand on her own two feet.

Harry had no idea where she was.

This place didn't look like Malfoy Manor, and she could remember Dobby getting them out of there... _Dobby_.

Dobby had died.

The wave of grief that hit her almost made her stagger into the closest wall, but she managed to catch herself.

She brought a hand to her head, rubbing it down her face once, before she jerked it away with a hiss.

Harry carefully prodded the skin around her right eye, feeling the swollen, puffy flesh, and yes, she finally noticed that that eye couldn't open all the way. Her hand then drifted down to her throat and she grimaced at the tender flesh. She would be willing to bet on it being just as bruised as her eye.

The picture she must make.

Harry slowly shook herself out of it; she had more important things to deal with right now. Ron and Hermione; were they alright? What had happened to them while Harry had been... And where were they?

Harry crept through the room she had woken up in and tried the door. It was open.

Outside was a corridor with white-washed walls. There seemed to be a lot of white here, but it clearly wasn't a hospital. The walls were made of wooden planks and didn't look sterile, didn't _smell_ sterile.

Confused and wary, Harry looked down either sides of the hallway, but down the right hand-side ended with a wall with a small window in it, so she walked to the left.

Stairs led to a lower floor and Harry's feet whispered down the steps. She found herself in an airy sitting room, again mostly white, with lots of details that made her think of the ocean.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed softly, making Harry jump and turn to the other side, which opened up into a very nice kitchen.

Hermione's expression tightened at the sight of her face, and Harry supposed it was the bruises.

"How are you feeling?" She asked quietly, looking like she didn't know if it was alright to ask.

Harry didn't answer right away, because by the kitchen table behind her, sat not just Ron but Bill and Fleur, Dean and Luna.

The Omega swallowed and tried not to shy away from the blatant stares.

"Where are we?" She asked and nearly winced at how rough and hoarse her voice was.

"We're at Shell Cottage." Ron said, slowly rising to his feet, no sudden movements and Harry was ridiculously grateful.

She figured she'd be jumpy for a while.

"Bill and Fleur's house."

"Oh." Harry blinked, gaze skittering over the occupants of the table before turning back to Hermione. "What did you do with- with Dobby?" She asked quietly.

"We didn't want to bury him without you, mate," Ron said, slowly stepping closer until he was standing next to Hermione. "Bill cast a spell on him to make sure his body wouldn't- that made sure we could do it together."

Harry nodded and sent Bill a quick, grateful glance.

She hated herself a little for it, but the only Alpha in the house was making her very uncomfortable. She _knew_ that Bill would never do anything to hurt her, nothing even _remotely_ similar to what Greyback had tried, but that didn't seem to matter. The hint of his scent in the air was extremely unsettling, enough to make a slight tremble move through her limbs.

"I'd like to do that now, thank you?"

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked, looking openly concerned and a bit like she wanted to usher her back upstairs into bed.

"He's waited long enough," Harry nodded, grimacing slightly at the painful twinge that went through her throat and neck.

She was beginning to dread looking into a mirror, and decided to put it off for as long as possible.

"Alright," Ron said, focused fully on Harry. "I'll take you to him."

Harry gratefully followed Ron out to the tool shed, where Dobby was resting on a carefully folded blanket, looking peacefully asleep. If you discounted the dried blood on his chest where Bellatrix's knife had struck him.

She gently wrapped him in the blanket while Ron got the shovel she had indicated.

They buried him at the edge of the garden, where Dobby would get a great view of the ocean, and Harry finished it all off with a headstone. Because the lively little house-elf deserved one. Deserved more.

By the time they came back inside, Harry's hands were blistered in addition to everything else, but she couldn't care less.

"How long was I out?" She asked Ron before they rejoined the others.

"Just a day," he said after a long pause. "You woke up once, screaming. Fleur ended up having to spell you back to sleep." Ron looked pensive and pained at the admission.

Harry nodded. "I remember."

Her words only made Ron's upset expression deepen.

And then they stepped into the kitchen.

Fleur immediately got up and approached Harry with such deep worry and concern that it made her uncomfortable looking at it.

When she glanced at the others, Luna was watching her with large, serious eyes and Dean seemed unable to meet her gaze.

Harry stiffly turned back to Fleur and let her usher her to the sofa.

"Can't do too much, or ze potion might make it all worse," the beautiful woman was muttering to herself, fussing over Harry. "Not knowing what ze potion is is dangerous. Best not to use magic until we're sure it eez entirely out of your system."

Harry patiently sat still while Fleur examined her face and throat and then allowed the woman to herd her to the bathroom.

The door closed behind Harry, with Fleur and Hermione hovering worriedly on the other side.

Harry sagged against the bathroom sink with a deep, shaky sigh.

When she finally looked up into the mirror, she could do nothing but stare at her own reflection for the longest time.

She hardly recognized herself. She looked like one of those abused house-wives that had sometimes been talked about on TV when she was younger and Aunt Petunia had been home alone (with Harry).

Her right eye was nearly black and swollen almost shut from Greyback's fist. There were purple hand prints on her throat from where he'd been choking her and she slowly shifted the neck of her shirt to reveal more bruises -this time from Bellatrix's fingers- on her shoulders.

Harry slowly sank down to sit on the toilet, feeling quietly overwhelmed.

A soft knock on the door made her glance up. She silently watched Luna slip into the room, seemingly against Hermione and Fleur's wishes, if the glimpse of the two other women's expressions were anything to go by.

"Hi," Harry greeted hoarsely, feeling too tired to even get up from her seat to hug the girl. She hadn't seen her friend in so long it felt like a life-time.

"Hello, Harry," Luna greeted back, giving her a small, tired smile.

It reminded Harry that she wasn't the only one having a rough time.

"How are you?" She asked with a worried frown, looking the younger Omega over.

Luna was skinnier than she had been last year and she looked like she hadn't been sleeping properly for quite a while. Not very strange, considering _where_ they had freed her from.

"I'm doing much better now than two days ago," the blonde said diplomatically. "And thank you for asking, Harry."

Harry smiled wanly. "We went to your house and I saw your room." It was perhaps a bit of a non-sequiteur, but it made Luna give her a genuine smile.

"Let's get you washed up and get his smell off of you," Luna said instead of commenting.

Harry gave a shudder and nodded.

Luna started to fill the bath with warm water, and then turned to Harry to help her get her clothes off.

Looking at herself in the mirror again, she winced.

Seemed like Luna wasn't the only one who had lost weight. And that wasn't even mentioning the plethora of bruises littering her body. Thankfully, not all of them were from fingers and hands.

There were plenty of scratch marks from Greyback's claws, though. Mostly on and around her hips where he had tried to get a hold on her.

Harry turned away from her own reflection with a disgusted shudder, swallowing thickly. She pressed the back of one of her hands to her mouth, feeling like she was going to be sick.

"The trousers, too, Harry," Luna added quietly, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Harry ignored her own trembling fingers as she unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them down.

There were... bruises in the shape of hand prints on her thighs and Harry had no idea when Greyback had given them to her.

Harry closed her eyes and took a deep, unsteady breath.

"It's okay, Harry," Luna said from right in front of her.

"No, Luna. It's really not." Harry took another deep breath. "I am _so tired_ of people thinking me good for just one thing, all because I'm an Omega," she whispered.

When Luna wrapped her arms around Harry's middle, Harry returned the gesture, pulling the younger Omega close.

It should be awkward, what with Harry being half-naked, her jeans pooled around her knees, but she really didn't care. She buried her face in Luna's shoulder and just... breathed. Deep, gulping breaths.

Luna tightened her arms on her when Harry's shaking didn't subside.

A sudden thought struck her and Harry stepped away from Luna to check her over.

"None of them did anything to you?" She asked, her heart clenching painfully at the thought.

Luna shook her head. "No. They left me alone, and I was mostly taking care of Mr Ollivander," she explained quietly, and Harry slumped with relief.

"Good," she breathed. The thought of Luna having been stuck there for weeks -months?- was bad enough. From the little Ron had told her earlier, the cellars in Malfoy Manor were hardly hospitable. "Wait, Mr Ollivander was there?"

"Yes. You-Know-Who spent a lot of time questioning him," Luna said softly. "I always tried to care for him afterwards, but." She shrugged. There wasn't much she could have done in that situation, really, and the both of them knew it. "Let's get you in the bath now, Harry."

"Alright," Harry nodded and finally stepped out of her trousers. Getting rid of her underwear, she let Luna help her into the bath. She very much needed the extra support, or she would have fallen over.

The warm water felt wonderful for her aching body.

.

The rest of their stay in Shell Cottage was spent mostly planning a bank robbery.

Harry felt a bit strange about it when she took a step back and thought about it. Bank robbery.

She'd never have guessed it just a year ago.

When she, Hermione and Ron weren't cooped up with Griphook, plotting, Harry was being fussed over by Fleur, talking quietly to Luna or trying not to flinch every time Bill moved unexpectedly when they were in the same room.

His scent, faint as he kept it most of the time, was still more unsettling than anything Harry had ever been faced with on a regular basis before.

She hadn't really come across any Alpha whose scent had made her... act like the stereotypical Omega, and they had been mostly annoying in Hogwarts, but being unsettled by a scent was unsettling on its own.

She hated it.

When a week had passed and Fleur deemed it safe enough to magically heal her various hurts, Harry had never been so grateful to get rid of a few bruises.

She would no longer have to look at the marks Greyback had left on her every time she walked passed a mirror. The mental ones would last longer, she knew, but there wasn't much she could do about those right now.

Which was why she stubbornly sat down next to Bill every chance she got, to force herself to deal with the fact that she was being ridiculous.

Over time, it got better, as long as Bill didn't try to outright touch her without warning. That still made her jump even shortly before they were ready to act on their plan.

-x-x-x-

In the end, when everything was said and done, they had successfully broken into Gringotts, gotten away on the back of a dragon, made it to Hogsmead without being captured by Death Eaters and made it into Hogwarts with Aberforth's help.

The Battle had been... terrible, and Harry had known, for a while now, that she wouldn't make it. Had known it down to her very soul.

The prophecy said it clearly, that one or both of them had to die, and Harry had sort of figured that Voldemort had a bit of the upper hand.

That didn't make it any easier to walk alone to her own death. Knowing that she would do nothing to protect herself.

She didn't _want_ to die.

All the people she was leaving behind would be furious with her if they knew what she was doing, but Harry had no choice.

 _She_ was the last Horcrux.

.

Hearing her friends' reactions to the sight of Harry's -supposedly- dead body and remain unmoving was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do. But she'd _had_ to do it.

And when, at the break of a new day, Harry was alive and victorious and Voldemort was dead, Harry figured it had all been worth it. (It must have been.)

That didn't change the fact that Remus and Tonks were dead, that Fred was gone and _so many more_.

Harry was exhausted and the only thing she wanted was to get a sandwich to eat and a bed to sleep on.

As if summoned by her thoughts, Kreacher found her and tugged gently on one of her torn and scorched sleeves.

"Mistress," he murmured when Harry turned to him. "Come this way, please. Kreacher has prepared a bed for Mistress."

Harry was so tired she didn't even question the house-elf. She merely let Kreacher lead her away from the Great Hall after a quick word with Ron and Hermione to let them know where she was going. They were probably going to be a bit twitchy about her disappearing without a word for a while.

Kreacher led her to Gryffindor Tower.

Harry was so exhausted she didn't really pay attention, so when Kreacher presented her with a bed, she collapsed on it without question.

A plate with a few sandwiches was shoved in front of her face, and Harry forced them down mostly automatically.

The moment she was done, Kreacher picked up the empty plate and left. Harry was asleep before he had completely left the room.

.

Waking up was a slow and tiresome business.

Harry was still exhausted, but her bladder was full to bursting and she felt positively crusty. She was caked with dirt, grime, blood and soot, to mention a few things.

Dragging herself from the warmth of the covers, Harry stumbled towards the bathroom.

When she was done and planning to return to her bed for some more sleep, she very nearly walked into a solid wall.

She blinked dumbly at the sturdy chest in front of her eyes a long few seconds, before she thought to raise her gaze to find out who the owner was.

Neville was staring back at her, as if he couldn't comprehend her presence in front of him.

They were just staring at each other for the longest time.

In the end, Harry was the one who came to a decision first.

For the first time in her life, Harry consciously let out her pheromones in a clear invitation.

Neville's eyes widened slightly and he looked like he could hardly believe it _and_ like he had no idea what to do.

That didn't stop him from releasing his own pheromones in response and he really did smell very nice.

Harry took a step closer and let her forehead rest against Neville's chest, breathing in his scent and trying to unwind.

She was exhausted, but there was a buzzing just under her skin she only now realised hadn't gone away with sleep. It felt like there were ants crawling around inside of her and it was... disconcerting.

Neville hesitantly brought his arms up around her in a tight hug, and Harry practically melted into the hold.

"Um, Harry, does this mean...?" Neville asked uncertainly.

Harry's placid nod made him fall quiet again, until the Alpha cleared his throat uncomfortably.

She realised that she had bumped into him when he had been on his way to the bathroom, so she stepped away from him with an apologetic smile. Harry allowed him to pass, and then followed Neville's scent back to his bed.

It wasn't very hard, because controlling your scent when you were asleep was extremely difficult.

Slipping beneath the covers of Neville's bed, Harry buried her face into one of the Alpha's pillows, taking a deep breath.

(She would later question just _why_ Kreacher had taken her to the MALE Gryffindor dorm.)

Harry was almost asleep again when Neville joined her, hesitantly slipping into the bed beside her, as if not certain at all what he was expected to do.

She made a small impatient sound as she shuffled closer, taking hold of Neville's arm and wrapping it around her as she settled with her back against the Alpha's chest.

When Neville took the hint and pulled them close together, his strong arms firmly wrapped around her waist and chest.

Harry felt like she could finally relax fully for the first time in months.

A moment after that, Neville buried his nose in her damp hair and they both fell asleep feeling more at peace than they had before.

.

Harry woke up, feeling pleasantly relaxed and content. Right then, there wasn't a disaster, the aftermath of a war waiting for them once they left the room. There weren't so many funerals to plan and there wasn't a government, an entire country to stitch back together.

There was just Harry, in this bed, with a very nice smelling Neville, who she knew and trusted with her life. With everything.

Neville, still holding her securely to his chest, took a deep breath and tensed his arms around her, before letting it all out and relaxing again, bringing one of his hands from where it had been wrapped around the ribs beneath her left breast, dragging over the skin across her diaphragm until it was resting on her opposite hip.

The sensation made her shiver and stretch languidly. All of her hurt, but that wasn't important right now. Harry was so used to pain by now she barely remembered what it was like without it.

Neville's reaction was sedated but immediate. He was nosing along the side of her throat, and Harry hummed lightly and tilted her head back to give him easier access. The rough texture of a tongue dragged over her skin next and Harry sighed.

"Neville." She said, wondering if Neville was even fully awake. This was nice, but full consciousness was important in both participants.

The Alpha grunted a very vague response, sucking on the sensitive skin right under Harry's ear and her eyes fluttered closed.

"If you're not entirely awake, you really should be," she managed to continue a little while later. She was lying on her back by now and Neville was half on top of her, his mouth on her collarbone, where there were clusters of glands for the day Harry wanted to bond with someone. That also meant that the smell of her scent was particularly strong on her shoulders and surrounding skin.

Neville's eyes shifted to meet her gaze and he looked different from how she had ever seen him. Calm, self-possessed, confident. He'd been these things yesterday -or _was it_ yesterday? How long had they slept?- but it hadn't been this... intense and intimate.

Neville's teeth grazed her shoulder and Harry shivered.

"You really want to do this?" He murmured against her skin.

Harry's eyes were closed, and she took a moment to actually think about it.

"Yes," she breathed and tangled one hand in Neville's hair.

The Alpha growled, low and pleased and nearly possessive.

Harry bared her teeth playfully back and shifted so that she could grab her wand. She didn't know if there was anyone else in the dorm room right now, but if there was, she certainly didn't want to broadcast what was about to happen next for all to hear.

A quick spell on the curtains around them to ensure anyone else would hear nothing but peaceful silence, Harry tossed her beloved wand to the side where it wouldn't get hurt -again.

Then, she tugged Neville up to where she could give him a proper kiss. While their mouths were busy, their hands worked on tugging off the clothes they had been sleeping in, to get at the sleep-warm skin beneath.

-x-x-x-


	7. Chapter 7

**Another chapter! No warnings for this one, but... eh. You'll see.**

 **Some people will be happy, me thinks, that the story is moving forwards. :) Also, I'm pretty sure this is the longest chapter so far! ^^**

 **Hold Your Head High**

 **Chapter 7**

Life returned to as close to normal as post-war could become after that.

If Harry had thought being on the run was hard -and it had been- then dealing with the post-war wizarding world was stressful to a ridiculous degree in a way running for your life as Undesirable nr 1 hadn't quite managed.

There were funerals, repairs, trials, catching the few Death Eaters that had escaped the law so far, not to mention the fact that Harry's fame and popularity had sky-rocketed to never before seen heights.

She hated it, but if it meant that she could give people hope for the future, then Harry would endure it for now.

Things had begun to calm down when Hermione caught Harry in the Burrow one morning, before the two of them were heading to the Ministry to talk to Kingsley about yet another thing he wanted either their input on -Hermione- or public support for -Harry. That wasn't to say Kingsley didn't value Harry's mind, but she was well aware where her talents lay, and she was far more an action kind of person than a thinker.

"Harry, can we talk for a moment?" Hermione said before Harry could get up from the table after finishing the breakfast Molly had made them. The woman herself had already hurried off to take care of something else. She'd been trying to keep as busy as possible after Fred died, and Fleur had recently discovered she was pregnant. She'd spent quite a bit of time with her daughter-in-law, trying to focus on the future and on happier things than the fact that one of her children hadn't made it out of the Battle of Hogwarts alive.

"What is it?" Harry asked, a bit distracted by her thoughts.

"Harry, do you remember when we were thirteen and I Matured?" Hermione began slowly, hands folded neatly on the table between them, as if it were an ornate desk instead of a worn kitchen table. "I promised you that even though I wasn't an Omega, I would still help you fight for Omega rights?"

"Yes." Harry nodded, her full attention on Hermione now.

"Good! Because I feel like this is the best opportunity we could ever have to really make a difference." The woman continued briskly, smiling slightly at Harry, who smiled back. "I've talked through it with Kingsley a few times recently, and he agrees with me."

"So what's the problem?" Harry asked, knowing that there was a catch in there somewhere. Hermione needed her to do something or she wouldn't have brought it up when they were both so busy.

"Harry," Hermione began, looking like she was gearing up for a proper speech, "it's well known that you are an Omega by now." Harry nodded when Hermione paused pointedly. "But when you mask your scent until it's impossible to pick up, it's easy for the majority of people to 'forget' and treat you like a Beta instead." The young woman explained patiently.

Harry frowned and wondered when Hermione would get to the point, even as she felt a sense of growing dread; she thought she knew where this was going.

"What I'm trying to say," Hermione continued, as if she had read Harry's thoughts, "Is that if we want to really change the way people think of and treat Omegas, then we've got to start somewhere." She said, giving Harry another pointed look.

"And you wand me to go around broadcasting my gender designation." Harry concluded neutrally.

Hermione nodded. "People can't deny the truth if they can smell your Omega pheromones, Harry! And you killed Voldemort! I'd like to see anyone try and tell you how weak and submissive you are!" She exclaimed, looking ferociously vindictive. The only thing that was missing was the victory pose.

"Right." Harry said flatly, trying to see how people would react to her on a general basis if they could smell her. "I'm not saying 'No', but I can't tell you that this doesn't sound like a disaster in the making."

"I'm not saying you have to flare hard enough to drive the Alphas from their minds, Harry." Hermione sighed with a long-suffering air, as if she thought Harry really should be able to figure these things out on her own by now. "We went over this when you dated Blaise, didn't we? Just, get used to letting out a fraction of your scent on a regular basis."

Harry thought it over. "I suppose I could do that." She eventually conceded. "How does that play into your excessive plans?" She asked next, raising an unimpressed eyebrow when Hermione looked like she was going to deny her plotting-tendencies.

"It will make people really _notice_." Hermione told her with a grudgingly amused smile. "It will _force_ them to realise that women aren't useless for anything but rearing children just because they are Omega." She declared hotly.

Harry sighed. She had originally wanted to become an Auror, and while Kingsley had offered to support her through it, Harry couldn't say that the prospect of being the fore-runner there as well was very tempting. And as it was, Harry was thinking _bigger_.

There were no Omega in the Auror forces, and while Beta women were fairly common, Omega apparently weren't _supposed_ to be sent out on the front-lines.

Hah!

That wasn't what people had been saying at the end of fifth year and all of sixth year when Voldemort moved out into the open, and it's not like anyone tried to stop her when she was facing down the Dark Lord.

'Useless Omega', right.

Harry would love to stomp a few big-headed Alphas on the Auror corps into the ground, but she was aiming higher.

For once, Harry was thinking big. She didn't like the spot-light, but she wasn't getting rid of it anytime soon and if she could use her fame for anything, brightening the future for Omegas everywhere in the Wizarding world, then Harry would do so with pleasure.

The fact that she had Hermione, Ginny and Luna there to help her all but ascertained her success.

Being on good foot with the Minister of Magic didn't hurt either.

"I'm writing a set of Equality Laws with Kingsley and Susan Bones that will include Muggleborns and Omegas; _everyone_." Hermione said with a smug smile. "Those aren't anywhere near finished yet, of course, but if we start to lay the groundwork _now_ , there will be less resistance from 'stuffy Alphas' later on." She smirked. "So can you please start going about your days smelling temptingly like an Omega cupcake from now on, Harry? And can I please be there with you today to see the looks on people's faces when they are reminded?"

Harry snorted. "You're going to force me to go on a whole slew of fund raisers and such, aren't you?" She questioned wryly as she leaned back in her seat and focused on the amount of pheromones she let out into the air around her.

"That will be part of it eventually, yeah." Hermione nodded. "But that's just a fraction of it. We actually started working for Omega rights years ago, you know." She continued seriously. "All of fifth year, with Umbridge." Her mouth twisted distastefully at the mention of the vile woman. She'd spend the rest of her days in Azkaban for her actions before and during the war but that didn't erase everything she'd done. Harry would have the scars on the back of her hand for the rest of her life.

"What she was doing was despicable and I wasn't going to stand for it." Harry said calmly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I know." Hermione smiled tenderly at her. As if she was asking her with her eyes to never change. "The thing is, Omega all over the wizarding world started cutting their hair short in a show of solidarity –that you started- that I hope we can replicate."

"Technically, it was Angelina who started it." Harry muttered, but nodded to show she understood. "Just, let me know before you toss me into anything, please?" She practically begged.

Hermione looked affronted. "Of course! What do you think I'm doing right now?"

"Just, needed to say that."

They left for the Ministry shortly after that and Harry spent the rest of the day enduring gob-smacked stares. Mostly by Alphas, but the occasional Omega as well.

Kingsley had had to blink quickly a few times before he'd been able to snap himself out of it, but all in all, that was one of the mildest reactions she got all day.

(The only one who beat him out entirely was George, who she met up with for lunch, and he didn't react at all, just pulled her close for a tight hug and then asked her how she'd been lately in a quiet voice. Harry really did love him and she shared every inch of his pain over Fred's loss.)

.

While Hermione plotted, planned and sorted out the Ministry with Kingsley, Harry was flitting all over the country hunting Death Eaters, attending too many trials to count without falling into depression, helping with restoring Hogwarts and trying to get her life in order.

Just because the war had been won, everything she had survived the last few years hadn't just... magically disappeared.

Which was why she spent many nights either sitting quietly with George in his shop while the man in question worked on his inventions -equally as unable to sleep as Harry- or ended up walking around outside.

This particular night, Harry had ended up apparating to London on a whim and was stalking the streets like she was trying to outrun her own demons. Being still made her skin crawl, as if someone was watching her and just waiting for the opportunity to pounce.

Molly was always worrying about Harry coming across more trouble than she could handle, but Harry wasn't really concerned.

After Voldemort and the war, the thought of normal people threatening her wasn't frightening. She didn't think she was being arrogant, just... it couldn't be worse than what she had already survived.

It was currently very late -or early, depending on how you looked at it- and most buildings were closed and dark. There were very little, if any, people other than Harry around and she enjoyed the silence.

Turning left on a spur of the moment decision, Harry's gaze was drawn to the cheerful lights illuminating one building up ahead.

When she got closer, she could see that it was a gym of some sort, and the sign above the door claimed it to be open 24/7. Harry slowed to a stop in front of the door, staring up at the sign. It wasn't like she didn't have the money to check it out; Kingsley and Bill had both helped her untangle most of the mess at Gringotts and Hermione had demanded that she keep at least _some_ Muggle money on her if she insisted on roaming the Muggle world at night.

And while she wasn't familiar with kick-boxing, at least she knew a little about boxing, and it sounded like it could be interesting.

See what all the fuss Dudley had made about it was all about.

Harry pushed the door open and strolled into the well-lit facility, looking around with weary curiosity.

"Excuse me, miss. Can I help you?" Someone called out a moment later.

Harry turned to address the owner of the voice; she had spotted him the moment she stepped through the door, but had ended up scanning the rest of the place instead of showing that she had instantly zeroed in on him.

"Do you teach this kick-boxing thing regardless what time it is?" She asked, looking the man over.

He was tall, well-muscled and with short cropped brown hair. She supposed some would call him intimidating, but all Harry could think was that he had very kind eyes. When he stepped closer, it was easy to determine that he was also a Beta. Perfect.

"Depends. Why're you asking?" He asked, looking Harry over like he thought this was some sort of prank. Did Harry look like a drunk teenager? And it was supposed to be Tuesday. Well, Wednesday, now.

"Because I'd like to try it." Harry said, raising a pointed eyebrow at the man. What did he think? "Is now a good time or do you want me to come back?"

The man's eyebrows were slowly climbing towards his hairline. "You're aware that lessons are held in exchange for an hourly fee, right?" Harry didn't think that deserved an answer, so she just waited for the Beta male to get on with it. "Alright, kid." He finally relented.

Harry smiled slightly with wry amusement and followed the man further into the gym. She didn't think anyone had called her a kid in... well. Ages, that was for sure.

As the man -Robert, he introduced himself- was explaining how this worked, the fees he were expecting -not a problem- and what they would start with, Harry was taking off her jacket.

She supposed it was a good thing she usually dressed for comfort rather than style on her nightly walks, because she wouldn't have any problem working out in the sweatpants she was currently wearing, or the long-sleeved shirt.

Sports bras had become something of a standard wear lately, because regular bras were still painful to wear too long at a time. The steel wire pressed a little too close to the fresh curse scar on her chest.

"You're going to wear that shirt?" Robert question sceptically when he was done explaining, to which Harry nodded shortly.

She may just be eighteen, but after all the shit she'd been through, she had plenty of scars and she didn't particularly enjoy people gawking at them.

"Alright then." Robert sighed, in a long-suffering manner. Like he thought Harry was just yet another obnoxious teenager. "This is the most basic, default position-" He began to explain as he fell into a slight crouch that Harry eyed thoughtfully a moment before she did her best to copy every detail of.

And so it went. Harry was taught how to punch properly, how to kick and how to block.

By the end of the lesson, she was feeling pleasantly relaxed and her mind had quieted down, for once. And Robert looked less like he was indulging a child with long-suffering patience and more like he was properly focused on teaching an equal.

Harry whole-heartedly approved the shift in attitude.

"So do I have to book another lesson in advance or can I just drop in whenever?" Harry asked as she picked up her jacket and followed Robert back to the reception desk by the door.

"Feel free to come back whenever the mood strikes you, kid. Nights are usually calm, but we do have a few regulars who like to come around and work out." Robert shrugged as he rang up what she owed.

Harry absently went through her jacket pockets for the pounds she'd stuffed into one of them and she smiled.

"Sounds great. I'll make sure to come back, then." She said, finally pulling out the wad of notes and then counting out what she owed, politely ignoring the way Robert was side-eyeing her. Like he thought she was a criminal or something.

She supposed she looked the part, she mused as she left. And with things like Ministry infiltration and bank robbing on her résumé, he wasn't exactly wrong, either.

.

Hermione was planning to leave for Australia to find her parents and hopefully bring them back to England, but before that, Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Luna were all apparently having a slumber party.

Because that was supposedly what normal teenagers did and Ginny wanted to get together just the girls for some quality time.

"Okay, so what are you supposed to do on these things?" Harry asked with a sigh, plopping down on one of the mattresses they had crammed into Ginny's room in the Burrow, hugging a pillow to her stomach.

"Braid each other's hair?" Luna suggested with a dreamy smile.

"Sure, we can do that." Ginny nodded with a grin. "But what I really want to do is have some serious girl talk!"

Harry and Hermione exchanged a slightly wary look.

"Uh-huh. And that means?" Harry asked slowly, eyeing the redhead sitting in front of her like she had just said she wanted to run naked through the Great Hall during lunch. Together.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "We haven't really gotten a chance to catch up lately, and I thought this would be a nice idea." She explained in a more serious voice. "That we can talk about boys and be silly is just a bonus."

Hermione groaned. "You do realise that the only 'boy' in my life is your brother?" She questioned, looking like she was preparing herself to be mortified for most of the rest of the night anyway.

"I'm prepared to ignore that detail for female bonding time." Ginny waved it away with a dismissive hand. "So! Any men in your lives lately I haven't heard about?" She asked and somehow managed to leer at Luna and Harry at the same time, even though they were sitting on either side of Hermione.

That set the tone for the rest of the night.

Harry could admit that she was having more fun than she had initially imagined, and they were soon laughing at Ginny's latest disastrous attempt at dating.

"Hey!" Ginny affected an affronted look, smacking Harry on the arm. "What about you? I still can't believe you didn't go for it when you were dating Zabini! That Alpha is _hot_ and you seriously need to lose your virginity and live a little!" The redhead joked.

Harry choked on the butterbeer they had stocked up on in preparation.

"Ginny!" She gasped once she could speak again. "I can't believe you just said that!"

Hermione had clapped both hands over her face and was giggling hysterically into her palms, while Luna merely looked greatly entertained.

"And besides, I don't need to lose my virginity." Harry added loftily, taking another sip of butterbeer.

" _Please_ , Harry. If anyone here deserves some pleasure with no strings attached, it's you." Ginny shot back with a wicked grin but genuine warmth and concern in her brown eyes.

"I think, what Harry meant was that she has already lost her virginity." Luna joined the conversation with all the grace of one of her mystical creatures that no one else ever believed in.

Ginny and Hermione instantly stopped snickering and Harry sent Luna a vaguely betrayed look.

"I thought you wouldn't tell!" She accused teasingly.

"Merlin, I can't believe it!" Hermione cried, one hand held dramatically over her chest. "You had sex and you didn't _tell me_!?" There was some genuine hurt in Hermione's dramatics, so Harry shrugged and decided to answer the question seriously.

"It was more for the physical comfort that any love involved, and all of us have been so busy. When, exactly, was I supposed to pull you aside just to go, 'Oh, and Hermione, I've had sex'." She mused wryly, raising an eyebrow at her best friend.

Hermione grimaced slightly, but conceded the point.

"So who was it?" Ginny demanded once she was sure all hurt feelings had been soothed. "When?" She added with a speculative look on her freckled face, as if she was thinking back and trying to figure it out on her own.

"Um, Neville, actually." Harry admitted with a very slight blush. "And after the Battle." She added quietly. She frowned down on her butterbeer bottle. Was that a horrible thing? That she had wanted comfort after one of the worst nights of her life? That she had wanted to feel _alive_?

Ginny nudged her with one shoulder and Hermione wrapped an arm around her back.

"Was it nice?" Her bushy haired friend asked with a smile.

"It was." Harry grinned slightly. "Not enough to want to do it again; _with him_!" She quickly explained at the speculative, calculating glances that began to travel around their small numbers. "But I'm glad to have shared my first time with Neville." She added sincerely. "I trust him." She shrugged uncomfortably at the understanding looks that garnered.

Hermione hugged her again and Luna smiled encouragingly at her when Ginny began to tell them about a date she'd gone on last week, which had apparently not ended all that well.

.

Hermione went off to Australia with Ron in tow.

Harry was happy for them; they deserved some time to themselves to sort their new relationship out and get away from all the madness in England. And find Hermione's parents.

Harry's own escape had unexpectedly turned out to be the small gym she had stumbled over in London.

At least Molly was happy she was no longer roaming around aimlessly at night where she was alone and 'vulnerable'.

There was just something immensely satisfying about learning how to throw a proper punch and how to make it _really_ hurt.

"Hey, Harry." Robert called when he spotted her by the door. "Just give me a moment." He added, and Harry could see that he was helping a middle-aged man with some of the training equipment that was taking up part of the main room.

Harry took one look at him and guessed he had some sort of stressful night job and had come here to wind down.

Not another insomniac like Smith, at least, that was for sure, who liked to be on one of the treadmills until he was ready to collapse, before he could go back home and hopefully catch a few hours' sleep.

Harry still stuck out like a sore thumb in the place, but she liked coming here.

She was short and slight -especially compared to most of the guys she had seen around the place- and she always wore long sleeves and sweatpants that covered as much of her skin as possible, but Robert never asked questions that didn't have anything with her training to do and the rest left her alone.

She had a feeling she had Robert to thank for that.

"Hey, Robert." She spoke up during a short break, mostly so they could drink a bit of water before continuing. "Are you ever here during the day?"

"Sometimes. Why? Thinking of ditching the night crowd?" Robert fired back with a crooked smile.

Harry shrugged. "My schedule will be a little less crazy for a while, and I was thinking it might be nice to get in a few more hours' training."

She endured Robert's long, probing look before putting down her water bottle and facing him fully.

"Harry, I hope you don't mind me asking but, if your schedule has been that 'crazy' why do you come here instead of getting a few more hours' sleep?" He finally settled on asking, looking perfectly serious.

Harry contemplated the question and what to tell him for a few seconds, before letting out a tired sigh.

"If I could sleep, I would. Trust me." She muttered, frowning slightly as she eyed the man. "Coming here is better than wandering aimlessly." She finished with a placid shrug.

Robert frowned, but nodded. If it was the thought of her being unable to sleep or wandering London at night on her own that made him frown, she couldn't tell.

"I live close by, so if you come around during the day, I'll tell the guys to give me a call and I'll come just for you if I'm available." He said, giving her a playful wink.

Harry snorted and gave him a dubious once-over. "One might think you've grown fond of me."

"Don't worry, midget. I just want to make sure no one else can take credit for your fighting prowess." Robert assured her with over-done care.

Harry rolled her eyes and then practice continued.

.

With things in the wizarding world finally calmed down enough that everyone weren't constantly nagging for her attention, Ron and Hermione out of the country and her other friends off doing their own things, Harry had more time on her hands than she really knew what to do with.

(George was busy running the shop, Neville had joined the Aurors -and had promised to knock some sense into a few thick heads for her- and Luna was helping her dad bring the Quibbler back to life and run the newspaper.)

She could only take so many hours cooped up in the Burrow with Molly and or a pregnant Fleur, so she soon found herself walking through the door to the gym she had come to frequent every other night when her nightmares chased her out of bed.

She couldn't bother Andromeda and Teddy all the time either, so.

It was quite different during the day, she could tell at a glance.

There were several people using the machines on the floor -mainly men, though one of the people on staff was a woman, Beta- and one or two personal lessons were in session further back.

"Can I help you, kid?" A voice asked from behind the reception counter. Harry turned to the bloke, who looked like he might have been a military man once.

"Is Robert in right now?" She asked evenly, disregarding the man's scrutiny with practised ease. "Could you call him and see if he's got time to come here for a session?" She continued when the man gave her a negative answer to her first question.

Harry could practically _see_ the light go on in his eyes.

"You're 'Harry'." He stated after a lengthy pause.

"That would be me." Harry agreed mildly. Robert had told her that he had mentioned her to some of his co-workers. It wasn't a surprise. "And you're Mr Hunt." She continued with a once-over of her own.

Gregory Hunt, Robert had told her, was an older man with dark brown, greying hair and blue eyes. Had, in fact, been in the military when he was younger.

He was also the one in charge of this gym.

"I'll ring him up, Missy." Hunt told her with a nod, picking up the phone that was sitting on the desk.

Harry felt a strange twitch pull on some of her facial muscles at the 'Missy' but didn't say anything.

She was here for a work-out, not to pick fights with greying Alphas about how to address women properly.

Harry sourly shoved her hands deeper into her jacket pockets. She knew without hesitation that if Robert couldn't come, she'd leave and come back another day, because while not all the men present were Alphas, there was enough testosterone in the air to choke on, and Harry wasn't interested.

Robert treated her with respect and didn't ask questions about her weird quirks or knee-jerk reflexes, and she wasn't stupid enough to expect that from anyone else. She'd been lucky once, no way in hell would she be so _twice_.

"He'll come." Hunt's voice brought her out of her darkening thoughts and Harry nodded. "Give it ten to fifteen minutes, and he'll be here."

"Great." Harry muttered and kicked off her shoes. Pushing them to one side where they wouldn't be in the way, Harry then walked across the large room to the area she and Robert usually occupied, minding her own business.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" The woman -Marie or something? Or was it Mary?- asked politely, looking Harry over with curious interest.

"No, thank you." Harry replied with nothing more than a glance.

The woman blinked, gave a shrug and then went on her way, which suited Harry perfectly. She garnered quite some interest where she was waiting for Robert, stretching out her muscles in preparation for the punishing lesson she was here for.

Robert had learned early on not to pull his punches, and Harry appreciated it.

No one went about it half-arsed in a real fight and Harry had been in enough tight spots to fully appreciate the man dropping the silk gloves about five minutes into their first training session.

"Are you lost, lass?" One 'helpful' man asked her after five minutes of pleasantly undisturbed stretching.

"Nope." Harry didn't look up from her warm-up. She'd seen him approach in one of the mirrors that coated the walls at regular intervals, and wasn't surprised he had addressed her. "Please don't bother me." She added, because she wasn't here to chat with condescending arseholes.

She took a discreet whiff, and _of course_ he was an Alpha.

Harry barely managed to keep from rolling her eyes.

Why. Just... why.

"No need to be rude, you know," The man continued, clearly not taking the very obvious hint that Harry didn't want to talk to him. "I was just wonderin' if you'd like me to show you how some of the machines work." The idiot said with what he probably thought was a charming smile.

Harry wasn't impressed. "Look, I'm not interested." She answered shortly, attempting to be civil. She'd had another bad night, and she always had a shorter temper the next day after particularly vicious nightmares.

She got to re-live the highlights of the war, _lucky her_! Never mind all the shit that had happened before the war even started.

"So if you could leave me alone, I'd appreciate it." She added, because this bloke just didn't seem to want to accept defeat.

"I'm just trying to be helpful." He said, putting his hand on her shoulder and Harry's patience snapped. She imagined she could hear the sound of it breaking echoing throughout the room.

Harry bared her teeth in warning and _growled_ because she did NOT like Alphas touching her without her permission!

The moron bothering her was so startled that he didn't even defend himself when Harry bodily sent him stumbling away from her with a half-hearted knee to the stomach. If she'd wanted to, she could have aimed a little lower...

"What's going on here?" Robert asked, eyeing Harry warily before turning narrowed eyes on the idiot Alpha.

It was very obvious the Beta male had just arrived and missed most of the exchange. The fact that he had instantly taken Harry's side simply cemented the fact that Harry was sticking with Robert or leaving the gym.

There were other gyms in London and at least _some_ of them had to have a few decent guys on payroll.

"Don't touch me without permission, you fucking ass!" Harry spat at the still wheezing Alpha, a hint of a growl underlining her words.

"Right." Robert said with an unimpressed look at the downed idiot, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't harass my client, Clint."

'Clint' spluttered breathlessly, glaring alternately at Harry and Robert in turn.

Robert didn't give him a chance to speak up, though, because he immediately turned to Harry.

"Let's start our session, shall we, Harry?" He asked in a cheerful, chipper voice that felt a bit out of place.

Harry was still feeling a bit too worked up to properly respond in an appropriate manner, so she just gave a tense nod and stepped away from 'Clint'.

.

If that had been the end of it, Harry would have been if not happy, then at least content.

She didn't know if Clint the Alpha kept provoking her because she had wounded his pride beyond repair, or because he was just _that_ thickheaded and couldn't recognize a flat 'No' when he was slapped in the face with it, but he just refused to leave her alone.

Harry didn't exactly keep to a regular schedule, so it took a while before Harry and Clint crossed paths again, but when they did, Harry could safely say she hadn't expected the Alpha to resort to such... _juvenile_ methods.

She had just arrived to the gym, put away her shoes and warmed up.

Robert called out a greeting and Harry turned to smile at him, only to tense at the look on the man's face. He wasn't looking at Harry, though, but slightly behind and to the side of her.

Harry whirled around, falling into a ready stance, but she wasn't prepared for the face-full of water that actually met her.

She ended up staring incredulously at Clint, the Idiot Alpha, who was smirking at her with smug satisfaction, before he very deliberately let his gaze trail down to her drenched shirt.

Harry clenched her jaw, raised one unimpressed eyebrow and jumped the guy with an elbow to his face.

It was a very one-sided fight, and Harry came out of it not even a minute later feeling grimly satisfied.

"Jesus, Harry!" Robert said once he had crossed the room, completely ignoring Clint groaning on on the floor. "I am so sorry, give me a minute and I'll find you a shirt to change into."

Before Harry could say a word of protest, Robert had whirled away, calling for 'Mary!' and Harry supposed that that answered _that_ particular question when the female Beta employee looked up from what she was doing.

He was back a few seconds later, holding a folded t-shirt in one hand and began to herd her towards one of the changing rooms before she could so much as blink.

Harry stared mutely when the door closed in her face and then reluctantly glanced down on the cursed t-shirt.

It wasn't like she could just dry her own, long-sleeved shirt with a quick spell now, because then Robert and everyone else would wonder how she'd done it.

The only alternative was to put on the damn t-shirt.

The short sleeved t-shirt.

Damn it all to Hell.

With a resigned sigh, Harry pulled off her wet shirt, grimacing unhappily when the water-logged cloth dragged against her face.

At least she could dry her sports bra without anyone being the wiser.

When she couldn't possibly put things off any longer, Harry pulled on the t-shirt with near-overwhelming reluctance.

There was a mirror in the changing room -of course- and Harry eyed her reflection with grim resignation. There was no way anyone would miss the scars on her arms.

The scattering of burn scars particularly were very eye-catching.

Harry still had no idea how she hadn't noticed getting them, but she supposed trying to escape from Death Eaters and angry goblins with her life intact was enough to make anyone miss being burned with dragon fire?

Right.

The burns hadn't even had the decency to cover up her older scars! The cut from Wormtail and the large circular scar from the Basilisk tooth were still clearly visible, if not as angry red at the fresher ones. Nagini's bite mark curled around her left forearm, too.

With one last sigh, Harry folded up her wet shirt and exited the changing room.

Robert and Hunt were both waiting for her back on the floor mat Harry had claimed before Alpha obnoxiousness had made itself known.

Harry walked up to them with her head held high, skilfully ignoring the long looks she was attracting. She'd been through worse; this was nothing but an annoyance.

"I do apologize, Harry. This session will be on the house and I'll have a nice little chat with Clint about how to behave in the gym." Hunt told her with a serious expression, his gaze tracing down her arms once and then returning to meet her eyes.

Harry shrugged. "Alpha obnoxiousness." She said, smiling with wry amusement, because Hunt was an Alpha too, but the man merely sighed heavily through the nose.

"I will do my best to ensure that this will be the last altercation of this sort you will encounter in my gym." Hunt said, a frown pulling on his mouth.

"It's appreciated." Harry returned, and if her expectations were low, she blamed her previous experiences. At least Robert hadn't gawked at her arms for more than a handful of seconds before he snapped himself out of it.

He did look like he understood Harry a bit better now.

.

The last drop came two weeks later, when Harry had once again showed up for a day-time session and found Clint to be present once more.

Determined to ignore the idiot, Harry went about her warm-up, greeted Robert and they even got to finish their training session before anything happened this time.

It probably helped that Hunt spent most of his time scowling warningly at Clint.

Harry had just finished cooling down when Clint approached her with an apologetic look on his face that Harry didn't buy for a second. She'd seen first years with more convincing expressions on their faces even when it was obvious that they were lying through their teeth.

"Hey, Harry." He greeted with a sheepish grin that made Harry frown. "I just wanted to apologize for my behaviour the last few times we've run into each other." He said.

It might have been more convincing if he hadn't simultaneously slammed the full force of his pheromones into her face.

Harry slowly bared her teeth, her patience truly reaching the end of her rope. Because this was such an underhanded move it made her sneer with disgust.

"Really? This is your next attempt?" She asked derisively, and for the first time in her life, let go of all restraints on her own scent. The general smell of Alpha in the room was drowned out by the sheer strength of the Omega pheromones Harry was releasing.

She was vaguely aware of the remaining Alphas currently in the room stiffening and or taking an automatic step away from her.

"Shoving your scent in someone's face, trying to make them cower in front of your awe-inspiring Alpha-ness?" Harry sneered, stalking towards a decidedly wide-eyed Clint, jabbing her index finger sharply into his chest to underline her words. "Let me tell you a little secret, you utter prat! An Alpha that tries to use their scent to make an Omega cower, is not strong. He's not even average; he's _weak_. Trying to _force_ a female under your sway with fear!" Harry growled. "Let me show you just what it feels like." And she focused the full intensity of her own scent on the Alpha before her until it looked like he was going to wet himself.

Harry felt that her point had been made, and abruptly clamped down on her own pheromones again.

Every single Alpha in the room staggered slightly at the sudden absence of her scent, universally looking a little like someone had slapped them in the face.

Harry ran a cool eye over them before turning to Robert, who looked solemn and a little wide-eyed, even though he hadn't caught or even understood everything that had just happened.

"Thank you for all the lessons, and for treating me like a human being." She told him with a small, tight but heart-felt smile. "I've enjoyed it, but I don't think I will be coming back here anytime soon."

"Right. Sorry it didn't work out." Robert replied faintly, eyeing Hunt's gob-smacked expression with a hint of incredulous awe.

Harry snorted with genuine amusement, clapped the man on the shoulder and then picked up her jacket and headed for her shoes by the door.

It took no time at all to step into them and walk outside.

-x-x-x-

"So apparently my scent intimidates the average Alpha now." Harry said casually the next time she met up with Ginny and Luna for lunch. It was as good a way to start a conversation as any.

Ginny froze with her fork halfway between her plate and her mouth, while Luna gave a slow blink.

"How did you learn that?" Luna asked curiously, looking very interested to hear the answer.

The Three Broomsticks was fairly busy so there was little chance of them being over-heard. Some mistakes, you only did once, and Harry learned her lesson with the whole D.A. business at the Hog's Head.

Now that the two younger Omegas had returned to Hogwarts -a month back- to finish their last year, the Three Broomsticks was also the most convenient meeting place on days like this.

Harry told them about her pretty memorable goodbye to her training partner.

By the end of it, Ginny was in stitches while still managing to look low-key pissed off.

It was pretty impressive, actually.

Luna gave a slight hum, looking like she was proud of Harry, but also worried for her.

"I am a little concerned that things like this seem to happen to you so often, Harry." Luna said in a floaty voice that would probably sound clueless to anyone else. Harry and Ginny knew her too well for that, though.

"But good for you for showing that Alpha what was what." Ginny added with a firm nod, coming down from her bout of hilarity. She groaned a second later, making both Harry and Luna look at her questioningly. "Merlin, I wish Hermione was here for this, because she's been nagging about you releasing all your scent for _years_ and she missed it!"

Harry snorted.

"I'll tell her when they come back home." She said with a shrug. "Do either of you know why Kingsley want to talk to me?" She moved on to the next topic she wanted to cover.

"Perhaps." Luna smiled. "Daddy heard about some sort of Ministry function coming up." She said sweetly, fairly batting her eyelashes at Harry, who instantly paled.

"Oh, no."

"Oh, yes!" Ginny perked up, pushing her cleared plate to the side so that she could lean across the table to grab Harry's hand, as if to prevent her from bolting. "This is going to be fantastic!" She exclaimed with a slightly manic grin on her pretty face.

Harry really, really didn't believe her.

.

She had been right.

Shopping for 'appropriate' dresses with Ginny was mildly terrifying, and Harry felt a bit like she had somehow survived a hurricane. The fact that the red-head had recruited Andromeda for the day hardly made anything better. Harry was coming to love the woman, but she could be terrifying.

Luna had drifted along for the ride, but the blonde had done it with style.

She _did_ end up with a fair few beautiful dresses, though, that she could wear and still not put the majority of her scars on display.

Harry would love Ginny and Andy until the day she died just for that, and might even agree to another shopping trip. Eventually.

"You look dazzling, Harry." Kingsley greeted her with a charming grin, pulling her into a brief hug.

Harry smiled back, but it wasn't as genuine and warm as it would have been in any other setting. She still let the Minister tuck her hand into the crook of his arm and parade her around the room while Harry broadcast her scent a little stronger than usual.

She spent a _very_ _long_ night smiling stiffly at all sorts of people, making polite small talk and trying to make a good impression while suffering too many speculative, probing looks to count.

"Really sorry about this, Harry." Kingsley muttered to her out of the corner of his mouth during a brief lull in the evening.

Harry suppressed a snort. "For all the condescending congratulations for being alive, being an Omega, the not-so-subtle inquiries about my love-life or the blatant ogling?" Harry shot back in a bland voice, a slight grimace on her face despite her best efforts.

This... was not her favourite thing in the world. Hands down worse than the Triwizard Yule Ball.

Kingsley sighed. "All of it?" He shot her an apologetic, commiserating look. "I never knew being an Omega could be this bad."

"Welcome to my world." Harry muttered bitterly, before hastily pasting a polite smile on her face when she spotted another couple heading towards her and the Minister.

"I promise I'll do everything I can to help you and Hermione with those Equality Laws." Kingsley told her quietly and then greeted the French Minister of Magic with a friendly smile.

"And zis is ze woman we 'ave to thank for ze Dark Lord's defeat, oui?" The French Minister said once he and Kingsley had spent a short while catching up.

"A pleasure meeting you, Minister." Harry inclined her head the slightest degree, shaking the Beta's hand when he offered it. She endured the next few curious questions from the married couple with an impressive amount of patience.

The only truly interesting thing all evening were the few Alphas present who didn't seem to know how to treat her.

Their first reaction was blatantly obviously a dismissive 'Omega' but then their brains kicked in and added 'Defeater of Voldemort; incredibly powerful witch. Do Not Piss Off!' and it was fairly entertaining watching them flounder through their brief interactions.

The _very_ Alpha Minister of the Italian Ministry couldn't seem to decide between respectful awe and looking down his nose at her even as he leered at her curves.

The smile she gave him at their parting had been sharp and mildly threatening.

Kingsley hadn't even berated her for her behaviour. In fact, the former Auror had been muttering darkly about the man right up until they greeted the next foreign emissary.

At the end of the night, Harry's cheeks were aching from all the fake-smiling, along with her feet. She had been forced to dance with a total of ten men from different countries and social standing.

She was honestly fed up with the whole thing and was seriously contemplating leaving the country the next time she heard so much as a whisper about having to go on another one.

"I need to find a new gym." Harry muttered to herself, causing Kingsley to eye her curiously. "I feel the need to hit something very hard." She explained blithely.

.

Ron and Hermione came home in the middle of October, a few days after Harry's 'date' with Minister Shacklebolt, with the happy news that the Grangers would be returning to Great Britain as soon as they had wrapped up their life in Australia.

Harry couldn't be happier for her friend.

Before she could catch them up on everything that had happened while they were gone, however, Hermione took one look at Harry and went;

"Where are your glasses?"

Harry blinked, caught entirely off guard, because that was not what she had been expecting.

"Eh?" Harry frowned and brought a hand to her face, realising that, no, she wasn't wearing her glasses, actually.

She blinked again, and stared at Hermione and Ron.

"How long have you forgotten to put on your glasses?" Ron asked with an amused, lopsided grin.

"Um..." Harry tried to think back, but she couldn't for the life of her remember when she had stopped putting her glasses on her face first thing in the mornings. Blinking again, she marvelled at the sharp contrasts; she couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen this well without glasses.

"Something to bring up with Poppy the next time I go for a check up." Harry eventually said, bringing a hand to her chest, grimacing slightly at the still tender spot over her heart.

Hermione nodded with a concerned frown, before her expression melted into a happy smile. "'Poppy' is it now?" She said, but was content enough to put that conversation on hold for the time being.

Harry smiled back and was happy to fill them in on everything they had missed while they'd been abroad, which was incredibly amusing, if only for the colourful reactions.

Then Hermione went off to Hogwarts to get her NEWTs and Ron went to work with George in the joke shop while he contemplated if he really wanted to join the Aurors without Harry there beside him.

Harry, on her end, was reluctantly knighted for 'Services rendered Great Britain and all her people' together with her best friends. Which she supposed was the closest to the truth you could get without mentioning things like 'Lord Voldemort', 'Magic' or 'Wizarding War' to the Muggles. But at least the Queen seemed like a nice lady.

And she didn't have to suffer through it on her own. For once Ron and Hermione were just as much in the spotlight as she was!

Harry amused herself by briefly imagining her Aunt and Uncle's reactions to Harry being Knighted on national television. (Though she had made Kingsley request it to be a relatively small, quiet thing. She didn't _need_ more publicity than necessary.)

She was now -apparently- Dame Harriet Potter, in addition to her Magical titles of Lady of Houses Potter and Black.

Well, there were worse fates to suffer; Harry knew.

(The reactions in the gym she had been visiting in London were hilarious, which she would learn years later when she bumped into Robert again and he regaled her with the tale.)

In other news, quite literally, the _Daily Prophet_ had written a story where they speculated about if Harry's night with Kingsley acting like his equivalent to political bragging rights meant that the two of them were in a romantic relationship.

The next time she met up with Ginny, Hermione, Luna and Ron after the article was released, Ginny laughed her way through a recounting of professor McGonagall's reaction, and Luna had heard from a reliable source that Kingsley looked like he had been suffering from a constant migraine the days since he had read it.

(Xenophilius Lovegood was a whole lot more accepted in official circles after his efforts during the war, and while he was still just as weird, he _did_ write a few interesting pieces about the political changes Kingsley was bringing about.)

The following Monday, Kingsley sent out an official announcement -which was printed in the _Daily Prophet_ \- that he was happily Bonded and married to his Mate, thank you very much, and if they didn't stop with the ridiculous theories, Kingsley would work in a few laws about Slander in his next proposal.

(He'd do that anyway, he confessed to Harry the next time they met, and Harry would have hugged him if not for their public setting. The rumours about her and him dating had just started to die down and Harry didn't want to bring them back to life. Never mind that he was older than her parents would have been!)

Weeks turned to months and Harry was still helping where she was needed, attending trials, spending time with her friends when they all found a few minutes to spare, working out and relaxing at the Burrow.

"Harriet, dear?" Molly called into the sitting room, where Harry had curled up with a book Ginny had recommended. She was trying to relax a little and not lose her mind to boredom at the same time.

"Yes?" Harry bookmarked her place and put the book down, ignoring just how eager she was for something else to do. No offense to the book.

"There's a Floo call for you; Kingsley wants a few words." Molly told her before bustling off again.

The closer Fleur's due date came, the more excited Molly got. She had been in a state of maternal whirlwind in the last few days and Harry, Hermione and all the Weasleys were silently wondering (and betting about, in a few cases) how long she could keep it up.

Harry got up off the sofa with a small sigh and a stretch.

She wanted a distraction, but that didn't mean she necessarily wanted to hear what Kingsley had to say; if it was about another one of those functions, she might end up socking him in the eye through the floo. Her arms were already scarred, what would a few more burns do?

"Kingsley." She greeted the man with a smile nonetheless. "You wished to speak with me?" She prompted, silently wondering what was important enough that it couldn't wait until the next time they'd scheduled to meet face to face.

"Harry." Kingsley's head nodded amongst the flames in the fireplace. "Something came up and I was wondering if you might mind stepping through to discuss it in person?"

"Not at all." Harry said, hoping it wasn't another obstacle in their plans to better the Magical Ministry; they'd seen too many of those already and it hadn't even been a year.

Some of her thoughts must have been visible on her face -or Kingsley merely knew her well enough by now to guess- because he shook his head.

"It's mostly a good thing."

"Mostly?" Harry questioned as she dug out a piece of parchment to write a quick note to Molly, who had disappeared up into the house. Most likely to drag out another box of stored baby clothes from the attic to go through and sort.

"Well, I'm not sure if you'll approve of my plans or not." Kingsley replied with a surprisingly boyish grin.

Harry eyed him with wry amusement. Kingsley's sense of humour was mostly nice, but he tended to be a bit too amused with other people's misfortunes, from time to time. (As long as those misfortunes fell on the safe but tedious side, and not the life-threatening and or damaging one.)

"See you in a tiffy, Minister." Was Harry's reply. Kingsley nodded and withdrew his head out of the fire and Harry followed him through shortly.

Dusting herself off on the rug in front of the Minister's personal fireplace, Harry gave Kingsley an expectant look.

The man didn't waste any time in launching into an explanation. Apparently, the Italians were interested in cooperating with them about some of the laws Kingsley wanted to get passed with the ICW, as well as the two Death Eaters that had fled to the country when they had managed to slip out of England before the Ministry had been able to get back in full control.

The Italian magicals were a bit territorial, and had so far stalled any and all of Kingsley's requests to hunt the two men down.

"I want you to go as our liaison, Harry." The man finished with a grin.

Harry gave Kingsley a long, narrow-eyed look. "...The Italian Minister of Magic was _the_ most sexist person present at the function the other month." She pointed out slowly.

"Yes." Kingsley nodded, looking pleased with himself. "I figured that Minister Ganza could do with an Omega in his immediate proximity that he can't ignore."

Harry snorted. "You just want to make him squirm, don't you?"

"I knew you'd see it my way." Kingsley looked far too happy about it all, but Harry couldn't really fault him. Ganza had been one of the most insufferable Alphas Harry had ever met and she'd gone to school with Draco Malfoy.

It might actually be worth working close to him just to see him try to curb his own automatic response to Omegas. Maybe.

Harry took a seat in the chair in front of Kingsley's desk. "Convince me." She dared him with a wicked grin.

"You wouldn't be chasing our DEs personally, but you'd get to inspect the Italian Aurors, which I think you'd find to be entertaining." Kingsley looked like this here was his every dream come true; Setting Harry -Omega extraordinaire- on a pack of Alphas with over-blown egos and enough bias to supply an entire country on their own. "It would be an excellent opportunity for some vacation time, too, Harry." Kingsley continued, looking more serious now. "You haven't taken any time for yourself since the Battle. I have watched you run yourself ragged." He eyed her contemplatively a moment. "All your friends have taken time off to... recuperate and find a way back to themselves, in a way. You haven't."

Harry sighed and closed her eyes.

Kingsley... had a point.

"It's not like I could just take a step back and disappear out of the spot-light for a few weeks." She said, a wry smile twisting her lips into a semblance of a smile.

Kingsley inclined his head with a sympathetic look.

"But you have time and opportunity now." He pointed out. "I'm giving you the perfect out."

Harry snorted. "You just want to torment a man you know you're gonna have to work closely with for years from now on." She grinned tiredly. "But a vacation sounds... nice."

"Italy has a great deal of both Magical and Muggle tourist attractions and the food is amazing." The Minister said with a smile.

"I'm sorry, are you the Minister of Magic or a travel agent trying to make me your client?" Harry snorted with amusement and Kingsley laughed.

"Can't I be both?"

Harry just shook her head. "So when is this thing?"

"In a few weeks. Enough time to make a few preparations on both ends." Kingsley said while he began to dig through his overflowing desk for a specific set of files. "The Italians are horrible at English, so I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to learn Italian before you go."

"Doesn't that take a lot of time?" Harry asked, blinking, surprised.

"With the proper magical aids, it doesn't."

So Harry shrugged, inclined her head and bunkered down with Kingsley to go through everything she'd need to know for the trip.

Harry absently wondered when the Minister had decided to use Harry as his international diplomat.

.

In between all the things she had to do to prepare for her 'diplomatic mission' Harry took the time to go up to Hogwarts for a meeting with Madam Pomfrey.

"Harry, dear!" The matron greeted her with a warm smile.

"Hello, Poppy." Harry replied, following the woman into her office when she mentioned her that way. "How have you been?"

"A new term is always busy, but this one... a bit more than usual." Pomfrey said with a faint, sad smile.

Harry nodded. She didn't have trouble at all to imagine all the traumatised children there must be after the previous year. The Carrows hadn't exactly been fit for a school, never mind being basically in charge of it.

Pomfrey spent a few minutes giving Harry her check up, inspected her chest and the still fresh-looking scar marring it now, before they settled down for tea.

"I think there were a few questions you wanted to ask me?" The woman prompted when Harry spent a little too long lost in thought.

"I have more than one question, actually." She frowned. "You-" she paused a little, because she didn't want to bring this up. At all. "You know about the- the potion," She had to pause for a grimace, "Bellatrix forced into me."

Poppy gave a short nod, fury burning in her eyes at the reminder. The traces of that _vile_ potion had been in her system for a long time.

"I haven't had a heat since then." Harry finally said in a quiet voice.

Pomfrey was silent at first, but then she took a deep breath, before releasing it explosively.

"A potion like that-" her voice was trembling with suppressed emotion, "puts an enormous amount of stress on your body. It _forces_ you into heat, and there is nothing natural or normal about it, my dear." She took another deep breath. "The pain you were in is a reaction to that, but that's not the full extent of the effects."

"You mean there's more." Harry closed her eyes tiredly. She couldn't honestly say she was surprised.

Pomfrey nodded. "It threw your body out of balance, in a way. That kind of potions doesn't just affect your body, though; it targets your magic as well. I wouldn't be surprised if your heat cycle will be very strange for a good long while." She was silent a moment, to let Harry digest that. "I mentioned it your fourth year, but mucking about with an Omega's heat isn't healthy. It has long-reaching consequences."

"Of course." Harry muttered, rubbing the fingers of one hand over her forehead. "It won't leave me infertile or anything at least, will it?" She asked with a weak laugh.

"No." Pomfrey said quietly. "Forcing a heat isn't as dangerous as suppressing or halting one."

Harry rubbed at her face and was reminded of her second question. "I don't think I need glasses any more." She changed the subject abruptly.

"Oh?"

"I didn't even notice, but then Ron and Hermione came home and I suppose it was a sudden change for them." She chuckled a little. "I don't know what's going on."

And wasn't that a near-constant state for her lately? Her life in general, really.

"Tell me, Harry." Pomfrey began. "Have you been suffering from headaches lately? In the time between the Battle and now?"

Harry frowned as she thought back. "I suppose. Maybe? There was so much going on after the battle, so much to do, and it's not like I wasn't in general pain all the time back then either." She muttered awkwardly, trying to ignore Pomfrey's irritated scowl. She hadn't gone to see the Healer as quickly as she maybe ought to have, and the woman still hadn't forgotten it.

"Sit still a moment." Pomfrey said and got up. The moment she was standing in front of Harry, she waved her wand over her face for an in depth, target specific diagnostic spell. "It appears your eye-sight has improved significantly since the last time I checked." Pomfrey frowned thoughtfully.

"That's strange." Harry murmured, trying to think.

"Did anything happen lately that might have affected you like this?"

Harry's frown deepened. Not lately, no... But at the Battle...

She had died. _Or_ , more accurately, technically, the Horcrux in her head had been 'killed'. Could a Horcrux give you bad eye-sight?

"I can't think of anything." Harry lied when she blinked back to the present.

Pomfrey didn't look like she believed her, but she didn't say anything to call her on her lie.

"I have another jar of cream for your chest. I want you to apply it every evening before bed, but this will be the last dose I give you." She said, giving Harry a stern look, but it softened soon enough. "There's only so much I can do for a curse wound like this."

"Thank you, Poppy." Harry smiled and took the jar with care when the woman handed it to her.

.

Hermione had kindly showed her how to charm her own bag to be much larger on the inside than the outside. So at the beginning of January, Harry arrived in the Italian Ministry via portkey with just one small but sturdy backpack slung over one shoulder and dressed in comfortable, sensible clothes.

The welcome committee consisted of Minister Ganza, what must have been his aid or secretary, along with a few Alphas that Harry suspected to be the Heads of various departments. There was just a single Beta amongst them, and he was male.

"Boungiorno." Harry greeted with a polite, professional smile, shaking Ganza's hand when he held it out to her. "Quite the welcome, Minister." She said in near-perfect Italian, eyeing the staring Alphas with wry amusement.

"We're all eager to work together with such an accomplished witch." Ganza replied, and Harry almost wanted to give him extra points for his diplomatic phrasing.

"I'm sure you are." Harry said with a slight smirk.

Ganza then introduced her to his subordinates in rapid Italian and Harry tried her best to memorize their names and faces. She'd bet that that would come in handy during her stay, however long that ended up being.

Kingsley had very pointedly not given her a date to be back on British soil.

"Lady Potter." One lumbering Alpha said, giving her slight hand a firm shake. "Dario Accardi, Head Auror." He introduced himself with a slight, respectful nod. He looked much like the stereotypical Italian, tall with olive skin, dark hair -greying at the temples- and work-rough hands. Harry absently took in the scars littering his rather fuzzy forearms.

"Nice to meet you, signore Accardi." Harry gave the man a slight smile. "It'll be interesting to be working with you. See how another country operates."

"We shall see, Lady Potter." Was the man's neutral reply.

Harry wasn't offended. She knew she wasn't very impressive-looking at first glance, or even second and third. Right now, the most these people knew about her was that she had -supposedly- killed the most dangerous Dark Lord Europe had seen in centuries, and that she was an Omega.

She could imagine that that would clash something fierce in their minds with the general prejudice against Omegas, which there was plenty of.

"Allow me to show you around and then I'll have one of my men take you to your residence for your stay." Ganza said with a charming grin, holding out his hand towards the closest door. If nothing else, the man was at least charismatic enough for his position, she supposed.

Harry kept her pleasant smile fixed on her face throughout the tour.

The Italian Ministry turned out to be largely like the British one, if only with a lot more people who were inclined to shout conversations at each other from opposite ends of the room instead of using PMs. With accompanying wild hand-gestures, of course.

They finished off by walking through the Auror department, and Accardi gruffly told her where to find what, where his office was and where they would spend the most time planning the hunt for the errant Death Eaters.

Harry nodded along with genuine interest now, listening to the man with a thoughtful tilt of her head.

It was surprisingly easy to ignore all the attention she was under, the blatant scrutiny. After the last few years Harry had had, this was nothing.

As long as no one grabbed her unexpectedly, there would be no incidents that might put Kingsley in a tricky situation.

"Well then, Lady Potter." Accardi said, mentioning one of his Aurors to step forward. "Cattaneo will escort you back and forth between the Ministry and your Hotel each day."

"Pleasure to meet you." Harry greeted the man, taking in his appearance and the way he held himself. "New on the job?" She asked curiously, and then wondered if that was really something she should have said out loud.

"Ah, yes, signo- Lady Potter." Cattaneo said, stumbling slightly over how to address her properly.

"Cattaneo is one of my most promising recruits." Accardi said evenly, looking like his view of Harry was adjusting ever so slightly. "Acting as your guide out of the Ministry is perfectly within his capabilities."

"I wasn't questioning his competence, signore." Harry assured him with slight amusement. "I'm sure signore Cattaneo will be perfectly adequate at his job."

He couldn't be much older than Harry, actually, perhaps twenty-one at most. Taking a discreet whiff revealed that he was a Beta, which she suspected had been arranged intentionally with her... Omega-ness in mind.

Couldn't have an un-Mated Omega spending time alone with an unattached Alpha on a regular basis, could you?

 _The outrage_ , Harry mused wryly. She very nearly rolled her eyes, but caught herself.

"I shall see you tomorrow then, Lady Potter." Accardi concluded, waving his hand at Cattaneo again, telling him to escort Harry outside.

,

"This way, Lady Potter." Cattaneo said as he led her to a Muggle car, a nervous undercurrent to his voice that made Harry want to sigh.

"Just Harry is fine, signore." She said once they had gotten seated, but at the wide eyes in the rear-view mirror, she amended. "Or just Potter, then."

"You may call me Ettore, then, La- Potter." He replied slowly as he navigated the streets of... what city were they in? A few quick questions later, they had established that they were in Florence, Firenze in Italian.

"Why not Rome?" Harry questioned out loud, thought she wasn't really expecting an answer.

"The Catholics aren't very fond of magic, see?" Ettore smiled slightly at her in the rear-view mirror, and Harry laughed.

"True!" She hadn't really thought of that. "Are you a Muggleborn?" She asked curiously, mentioning towards the car around them with a wave of her hand. Ettore's nod made a lot of sense. "So how old are you, Ettore?" She asked when the silence grew too heavy.

"Twenty, ma'am."

Harry felt her eyebrows rise at the form of address. "There's no need to call me 'ma'am'. Not when I'm younger than you." She pointed out, feeling fairly bemused at Ettore's visible shock at her words.

"How old are you then, Lady Potter?" He asked.

And they were apparently back to the 'Lady' business, now.

"I'm eighteen." She told him honestly, biting back a few choice words when the man turned around to stare at her, taking his eyes off the busy road they were currently driving down.

Well, at least magic ensured that they wouldn't actually crash into anything. Or any _one_.

"You are the one who killed your Dark Lord, yes? You have survived _two_ Killing Curses!" There was enough astonishment in his voice to make Harry uncomfortable. "I did not know you are just eighteen!" He added, and there was something like awe in his eyes.

Harry watched him with growing dread.

Oh, no. Not more hero-worship.

She gave an awkward shrug. "How old did you think I was?"

"Not younger than me!" Ettore exclaimed. "You must be very skilled with a wand." He added, looking excited now.

"Minister Ganza mentioned something about mock duels that are held every month?" She questioned, relaxing slightly now that the air between them wasn't so tense.

"Yes!" Ettore smiled. "They are very exciting, and the winner each month get free coupons for the cafeteria."

"Sounds nice." Harry murmured and leaned back to listen to Ettore's excited chatter.

.

The hotel Ettore drove her to was a fair bit fancier than anything Harry would choose for herself, but she supposed she couldn't complain about the hotel being _too_ nice. Not when the Italians were trying to avoid an international incident in case Harry got offended.

When the door closed behind her and she got her first look at her _suite_ , Harry let out a tired sigh and tried not to think about the opulence surrounding her, or Ettore's enthusiastic promise to pick her up first thing in the morning.

With a deep breath, Harry started to dig through her backpack to get out everything she'd need for the night.

The next few days were spent mostly briefing Accardi on the two Death Eaters that had fled into his country, getting used to the Italian Ministry.

Breaking a few hands.

Harry was walking down the corridor towards Accardi's office, reading through one of the files the man had given her on the case progress so far. She wasn't expecting someone to grab her bum in passing.

The reaction was purely reflexive.

Harry dropped the file -which clattered loudly to the floor- snatched up the hand that was still on her ass, whirled around and twisted it harshly until there was a loud, audible _snap_.

Harry glared at the swearing Alpha that had taken _liberties_ and bared her teeth.

"Don't even think about it." She growled lowly, and then let go of his now-broken wrist with a sneer of contempt. Once she was sure the Alpha -still hissing and swearing viciously with pain- wouldn't try anything else, she crouched down to pick up her case file and then continued on her way, ignoring the ringing silence around her.

The message didn't sink in, apparently, because Harry ended up breaking two more wrists before the week was up.

The next time Harry walked into Accardi's office, the man was wearing a rather serious expression.

"Did something happen?" Harry asked, feeling concerned. The men they were chasing were _dangerous_ and she could see plenty of scenarios where everything went sideways.

Accardi shook his head and mentioned at the chair in front of his desk. Harry tilted her head slightly in thought, but gladly took a seat. Accardi was a good man, and his gruff demeanour hid a sharp, fair mind that he didn't seem to have any compounds about down-playing.

Harry liked him. Reminded her a bit about Ron, actually.

"Potter, would you mind telling me why you keep breaking my Aurors' wrists?" He began in a deep, slow voice that conveyed how seriously he viewed this subject perfectly.

Harry scowled. "Well, if they stopped trying to grab my ass, I wouldn't be touching them."

Accardi gave a very slow blink. "I was not told the full story, it seems." Was his only reaction and that was that. "We have tracked down one of our targets to-"

The rest of the afternoon was spent discussing strategies for arresting one of the men they were after with as little collateral damage as possible.

When Harry was finally leaving, Accardi's voice stopped her by the door.

"Oh, and Potter." Harry turned to look at him. "The monthly Auror tournament will begin tomorrow. I will write up your name in the registry, so prepare yourself accordingly."

Harry nodded and walked out the door with an eager grin.

.

She didn't win the tournament, but she was one of the finalists.

Much to the gathered spectators' general shock and surprise.

Ettore later informed her -on the way back to her hotel- that the small handful of Omegas working in the Ministry had started an unofficial fan-club dedicated to Harry.

"So that's why some of the secretaries have been looking at me weirdly." Harry muttered, biting back a groan.

"You were amazing." Ettore continued, sounding a bit like Ron when her friend was discussing Quidditch in general and the Chudley Cannons specifically.

"It was lots of fun." Harry smiled. It had reminded her of the D.A and the training they had been doing together. And Harry was _good_ at Defence, there was no denying it. But that didn't mean that she could take down people with decades' worth of experience just like that. She knew full well that the only reason she had gotten as far in the tournament as she had was because the majority of her opponents had been underestimating her. Severely.

"You have a few days off now that the department is moving in to apprehend the targets." Ettore said once he pulled up in front of her hotel. "Have any plans?"

"I was thinking I'd just do some sightseeing." Harry said. "I haven't really had any time to look around yet and Firenze has a lot worth seeing."

Ettore launched into a passionate lecture about all the best spots in his city, making it obvious just where he had grown up.

Harry smiled as she listened and promised the wizard that she would definitely take the time to check out a few of his suggestions.

"Have a good weekend, Harry!" He called after her when she exited the car and walked towards the hotel doors.

Harry gave him a wave over her shoulder and a fond smile.

-x-x-x-


	8. Chapter 8

**Damn, I broke my streak. The Curse has been broken! Or something. Sorry, I would have posted a few days ago, but I've been working a lot this week and has spent the rest of the time in a perpetually exhausted state...**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this anyway~ ^^**

 **Hold Your Head High**

 **Chapter 8**

There was so much to see in Florence alone that Harry started out her first day by apparating close to the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral and just went from there. The enormous dome was amazing, and Harry wasn't surprised to learn there had been a few magical fingers mixed into the construction.

She wandered aimlessly most of the rest of the day, enjoying the time off, the chance to stretch her legs properly and just watch the beautiful city around her.

Stopping for a bite to eat at whatever place caught her eye whenever she needed a break was an excellent way to try new cooking, ask about what else she should check out or just exchange a few amicable words with someone who didn't have the first clue about who she was.

It was nice.

Her second day started off much the same, only her point of origin was Palazzo Vecchio and all the surrounding sights that were all fascinating.

She still wasn't feeling up to seeking out the Magical district -the anonymity in the muggle world was blessedly delicious- so when the day was coming to a close, Harry found a nondescript little pub that looked like exactly the kind of place where you could just have a bite to eat and maybe a glass of wine and be no more than another face in the crowd.

Upon entry, Harry automatically scanned the place for all exits and possible threats, hardly aware of what she was really doing, even as she approached the bar on the far side of the room.

Thinking about what she wanted to eat -probably just something simple; she'd had a heavy lunch- an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her to the side and into a man's lap.

The strong smell of Alpha was like a slap to the face and Harry growled.

"Wonderful scent, singora." The man drawled, pressing his face into the side of Harry throat, and Harry went rigid.

A second later, she snapped out of the memories that particular experience had launched her into and forcefully broke out of the Alpha's hold, probably being a bit more violent about it than she necessarily _had_ to.

Harry was entirely unapologetic, even as the man hissed and swore at her as he nursed his tender nose.

"You fucking bitch!" He spat the words in Harry direction, getting to his feet to most likely 'teach her her place', but Harry would have none of it.

She was done taking this kind of crap.

She wouldn't stand it from her countrymen, the Italian Aurors, and certainly not from this self-absorbed muggle!

Harry may have left her original gym some while ago, but that didn't mean she had given up on her training; it worked remarkably well to relax her after an awful night and the exercise was nice.

The following 'fight' was short and painful. For _him_.

There were several men around them that bristled and looked like they were about to rise to their feet protectively when Harry swept a glare over them, flared her scent and bared her teeth.

The Alphas in the group -a business dinner?- instinctively leaned away from her and the sharp, threatening tang to her scent, and the rest of them followed suit.

With a snort, and a much darker mood, Harry continued on her way to the bar to get something to eat.

"Evening." She greeted the bartender, who eyed her with some interest, but didn't look even close to as alarmed as Harry had been expecting. "Do you serve food?" She asked.

"Depends on what you want." The older man shrugged elegantly, continuing to polish the wine glass in his hand with a clean rag.

"Something simple." Harry said, taking a seat on the closest bar stool. "Any sandwiches?" She suggested hopefully.

"I'll see what I can do." The man replied, giving her a small, respectful nod and then wandered over to a door that presumably lead to a kitchen.

Harry settled down and made herself comfortable, pulling a small book from her backpack.

She was very well aware of the man that soon sat down beside her, but made no move to acknowledge him. If he wanted a fight, Harry would give him one, but that didn't mean she'd instigate it on her own.

"That, lady, was _amazing_!" A deep, cheerful voice said from beside her, making Harry glance at the man over her book. "He's been an idiot all evening, and if you hadn't taken care of him so expertly, I would probably have been forced to do something myself, cora." The man continued to enthuse, practically bouncing in his seat.

Harry felt one of her eyebrows slowly climb up her forehead.

The man that had taken a seat beside her had bright blonde hair, sparking blue eyes and a boyish grin. He was also wearing what looked like a bastardised version of military clothes and had a number of concealed weapons on his person, if Harry wasn't mistaken.

"Thank you." She eventually answered when the man had been looking expectantly at her for several seconds -like an excited puppy. "I think." She added wryly.

"What sort of style was that?" He asked next, leaning his elbow on the bar and resting his chin in his hand. "Muy Thai?"

"Mostly kick-boxing." Harry shrugged. "I've found it to be very effective against handsy Alphas."

The blonde nodded with clear enthusiasm. Harry hadn't spent more than a minute with him, but she was getting the feeling that he did most of everything that way: enthusiastically.

"That was still brutal, lady!" He looked like he fully approved, despite his odd choice of words.

Harry had never imagined to hear 'brutal' used like a compliment.

"I still haven't figured out why, exactly, it is that most all Italian Alphas lose their higher brain-functions the moment they come within two meters of an Omega." She muttered, more to herself than the stranger sitting next to her.

"Male ego." The blonde said, like he was reciting something he'd been told so many times he'd come to believe it to be the truth.

Harry snorted. "Ah, yes. That is a recurring problem all over the world, I believe."

"So what's your name?" The blonde went on to ask, waiting with eager anticipation.

Harry gave him an even once-over, but before she could give an appropriate response, the bartender returned with a plate.

"Here you go, ma'am. Anything to drink with that?" He asked, eyeing the blond a long moment before turning back to Harry, who gave it some thought.

"Any good wines you can recommend?"

The bartender smirked and strolled down the length of the bar to collect a bottle and a wine glass for her without another word. Harry shrugged and turned most of her attention on her sandwich.

Some sort of baguette-like bread filled with ham and cheese.

Harry happily bit into it with a pleased hum.

The blonde beside her didn't seem discouraged by Harry's less than full attention on him, and continued to chat amicably about any number of random subjects that seemed to catch his interest right then.

When Harry was done with her meal, she pushed the empty plate a little away from herself and picked up the wine glass.

She wasn't a huge fan of alcohol in general, but a glass now and then could be nice. Fire Whiskey was what she usually drank when the mood struck, though.

"Excuse me." A new voice cut into the steady stream of words from her... enthusiastic table partner, making Harry turn to the formerly unoccupied seat on the other side of her stool with a small measure of exasperation.

Was it too much to ask to be left alone? Was it?

"Yes?" Harry inquired politely nonetheless.

"Is that idiot bothering you?" The dark-haired stranger asked her with a charming smirk pulling on his lips. Harry was a bit too busy taking in the curly sideburns and artfully mysterious air around him to really pay all that much attention to his words, though. Did it take a lot of effort to come across like someone stepped out of a Film Noire, she wondered?

"Reborn!" The blonde hissed, his voice tapering off into something that sounded almost like a whine at the end.

"I've been forced to listen to you prattle at this lovely woman for almost half an hour now, Colonello, and you haven't even introduced yourself." 'Reborn' drawled, a chiding, condescending tone colouring his voice and he turned his head slightly to stare down the blonde. "Making your best to live up to the stereotype of a hard-headed, insensitive Alpha as usual, I see." He tsk-ed.

Harry snorted, despite herself. "He's pretty tame actually, but I suppose my luck with Alphas has always been exceptionally awful." She mused dryly, drawing a pout from the blonde and a smirk from the dark-haired 'Reborn'.

"My name is Reborn," The dark haired one said, offering her his hand even as he tilted down his hat to shadow his eyes slightly, which Harry shook with some measure of reservation. "It's very nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Harry drawled back, not fooled at all by the suave act. "Do you use your friend here to bait women into dates often?" She asked mildly.

Reborn didn't look offended at all, merely amused. "He does make it so very easy."

"Hey!" 'Colonello' objected, turning to Reborn with a frown. "I was here first, Reborn."

Harry rolled her eyes. "Oh, thank you. That's very considerate, treating me like a piece of meat."

"No! I didn't mean it like that!" The blonde refuted quickly, looking a little panicked. "It's just, Reborn can be such a jerk, cora!"

"It's something of a talent." Reborn agreed, looking insufferably smug.

Harry eyed first Colonello and then Reborn, feeling the sudden need to bury her face in her hands. She'd just wanted a quiet place to have a bite to eat!

"Look." She said, instantly drawing both males' attention. "I have no desire to be the object for your little tug of war, or whatever this is supposed to be, so... can't you just go and find yourselves another victim?" She asked nicely.

"But you smell so nicely!" Colonello whined pathetically, leaning closer to Harry with a pout. Harry instantly clammed down on her scent, giving the man a cool, unimpressed frown.

"What this moron _meant_ ," Reborn began, leaning around Harry to slap his friend over the head, "is that you seem like a very interesting woman, and it would be a shame to let you go without even learning your name." He turned dark, intent eyes on Harry and she met them evenly for a long while.

"Harry." She finally relented. Not because she'd let him pressure her into anything, but because these two, for all that they weren't the most polite she'd ever met, were still easily two of the most interesting Alphas she'd ever stumbled across.

And yes, she _could_ tell that they were Alphas.

The blonde, Colonello, was no trouble at all; he was broadcasting a constant scent of Alpha that was pleasantly appropriate. Not too strong, not too weak.

The dark-haired one, though, Reborn, was suppressing his own scent so well she could only get a faint whiff of him every now and then.

Both scents had her intrigued; nether of them were at all exactly what they pretended to be.

"Nice to meet you, Harry." Reborn said at the same time as Colonello said, "I thought 'Harry' was a man's name?"

Harry snorted with amusement and took another sip of her wine.

In the course of the evening, where she failed to get rid of the two males, Harry ended up meeting the amused gaze of the bartender several times and they basically communicated their exasperated feelings with eye-rolls and a series of complicated head-tilts and shrugs.

It was far more entertaining than Harry could have possibly guessed, though.

"I'd love to have your number." Reborn said when Harry had announced that she was tired and was leaving.

"I don't have a mobile." Harry replied absently as she paid her bill to the silently amused bartender. "I don't even know how long I'll stay in Firenze." She added, because that was only fair.

She _had_ gotten the part where both Alphas were interested in her -it had been _very_ clearly broadcast to her- but she figured that leading them on would be mean. Not that she was leading them on.

Harry hadn't done a thing to encourage their strange competition about who could make her agree to a date first.

She'd actually been semi-rude at times when the two had gotten a bit too nosy for her tastes, but it's not like it had actually worked to chase them off. If anything, they were more insistent than ever.

"I don't really have time for things like dates anyway." Harry told them honestly, patting the blonde, Colonello, mock-consolingly on the arm when he slumped dramatically. "I just have another few days off, and then it's back to work for me."

"And what sort of work is that?" Reborn asked, watching her every move with a flattering amount of intensity.

"Confidential." Harry said with a teasing smirk, making the man's eyes light up with amusement, even as he pretended at disgruntlement.

Well, it wasn't even a lie, really. Her work was of a magical nature, and she was fairly sure that these two Alphas were muggles.

Harry got up from her seat, tucked away the forgotten book she hadn't really gotten around to read and began to move towards the door.

Her two insistent suitors trailed after her with varying degrees of dignity.

"Would you mind meeting up again?" Colonello asked once they were outside, calmer than he had been all night.

Harry tilted her head and looked from one male to the other a few times, taking in the clear interest in both their eyes.

"I don't see the chances of that happening; I don't even know what I'll do tomorrow. But you two haven't even gotten close to making the list of most annoying Alphas I've ever met, so I wouldn't mind too much if we bumped into each other, though." She said with a shrug, feeling placidly amused. (She _should_ know better than to tempt fate by now.)

With that, Harry waved a short goodbye and then walked off. She didn't know exactly where she was, but that wouldn't be a problem when she could just apparate back to the hotel.

.

The next day, Harry set out early for the Ponte Vecchio, browsing the mishmash of interesting shops on the bridge amongst the morning crowd.

About an hour into her peaceful wanderings, she turned a corner and very nearly walked straight into Reborn, who looked unconvincingly innocent when she fixed him with a flat look.

"Harry! Fancy seeing you here!" He drawled theatrically.

Harry's expression didn't change much. Instead, she began to scan the rest of the busy place for Colonello's bright mop of hair.

"Where's Colonello?" She finally asked when she couldn't find him at a glance, making Reborn smirk slightly.

"He wasn't keeping up, so I'm afraid I had to go ahead and greet you first." He said with a nonchalant shrug.

Harry let out a weary, reluctantly amused sigh, rubbing a hand over her face.

"Just because I said I wouldn't mind meeting you again doesn't mean I said it was okay to _stalk_ me." She finally said, looking up again to fix Reborn with a stern look. To which he immediately plastered the innocent look back on his face again. "How did you even find me?" She wanted to know.

"Harry, you are a very striking woman." Reborn said, letting his act drop to fall into step next to her. "Your passing is memorable."

She didn't buy it, not when she moved around the city by magical means, but was willing to let it go for now in favour of enjoying her nice day out.

It was shortly after that that Colonello came running up to them, panting slightly and giving Reborn the evil eye, making Harry think Reborn had done something to deliberately sabotage the other Alpha.

Well, it couldn't have been anything too extreme, because Colonello didn't look harmed or even slightly ruffled.

"Underhanded bastard, Reborn." The blond growled half-heartedly. As if he had already figured that out a long time ago and wasn't surprised in the least. "Harry, cora!" He turned to Harry with a happy smile, taking her hand and tucking it into the crook of his arm.

Harry let him, feeling reluctantly amused despite herself.

It set the tone for the rest of the day, and Harry watched the two Alphas interact.

The day after was much the same; Harry would set out for a destination she randomly picked that morning and then Reborn and Colonello would show up about an hour later.

She was a bit surprised with herself for not having snapped at them already, but truth be told, the two Alphas weren't... annoying. They should be, with how they argued over her in a not-so-subtle way, but Harry found it more endearingly entertaining.

It was strange.

Not to mention the fact that the two of them weren't _fighting_ over her. No, it was more like a friendly competition.

Harry had seen Alphas attempt to beat each other's heads in over an Omega, yet she would turn around to find the two quietly discuss plans for the next day or joke with each other as if they didn't see the other as a threat at all.

Hogwarts hadn't had a lot of fist fights of that sort while she'd been there, because Wirzard Alphas tended to go for the wand instead, and even if they didn't, there were almost always plenty of other people around at the school to step in and stop a fight before it got too out of hand.

That didn't change the fact that this was... weird.

And Harry _enjoyed_ her time with the two of them. More than she would ever have imagined.

"Colonello." Harry spoke up when they were slowly walking her back to her hotel. Harry figured that if they could find her within an hour after she left it every morning, it was mostly useless to pretend they didn't already know where she stayed. "You don't have to act like a ditz all the time, you know? I'm not afraid of you." She told him with a small, sincere smile.

Colonello, who had been telling her about some of his more amusing experiences from his days in the Italian Army, paused his exuberant story, to look down on her with a pensive expression.

"I know." He eventually said, a bit troubled. "It's just habit, I guess." He shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable.

"Well, most Alphas back away from me when I let them smell more of my scent than a faint trace." She told him with understanding, nudging his arm with her elbow. "It's useful, but." She shrugged.

"They simply do not appreciate you, my dear." Reborn said, slipping Harry's hand into his own and giving it a quick squeeze.

Harry laughed, because that thought was... if they knew who she really was! Hah!

"And you!" She fixed Reborn with a long look that the Alpha met without hesitation. "I won't run away if you let me smell you, you know." She said idly. "Holding all of your scent in all the time can be very tiring."

"Know from personal experience?" Colonello asked, looking at her with warm eyes and walking a bit closer than he had a few minutes ago.

Harry laughed quietly. "I Matured early." She told them with a slight smile. "I wasn't fond of the idea of most of the older Alphas in school watching me like an unexpected treat."

A low growl rumbled from Reborn's chest, as if the mere thought of that happening was enough to make him bristle. Harry blinked up at him and let him tuck her hand into the crook of his arm.

"Oh." Colonello said, looking from Harry to Reborn and back again. "You're a natural at suppressing your scent, then. Like Reborn, cora." He looked vaguely surprised by the information.

Harry blinked and looked up at the dark-haired Alpha. "You were Early, too?" She asked, because it had sounded like Colonello had hinted at it, as if Harry and Reborn had more in common than just naturally knowing how to mask their scent.

"I was eleven." He shrugged, as if it wasn't important.

"I'd just turned twelve." Harry revealed, smiling slightly.

"Fourteen?" Colonello added, looking like he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do in this situation.

Harry's smile widened and she grabbed his hand to include him. "No one at school actually knew I'd Matured until I was fourteen." She said with a playful wink. "Other than my best friends."

"You managed to keep your scent under wraps for two full years?" Reborn mused, sounding vaguely impressed.

"What can I say? I was highly motivated." Harry snorted, thinking of her own thoughts on Alphas and Omega bias back then. It hadn't changed much, to be honest, if only her reactions had more bite to them now.

"Oh, shit, cora." Colonello said, making Harry glance questioningly at him. "You were worried enough about the Alphas around you, when you were _twelve_ , that you managed to suppress your scent continuously for _two years!?_ "

"Basically." Harry sighed. "I don't know if the two of you have noticed, but prejudice and bias against Omegas are ridiculous."

This time it was Colonello who let out an aggravated growl, tightening his hold on Harry's hand slightly.

"It's not like I was completely helpless." She told them exasperatedly, wondering when she'd get her hands back. "I did have to break a boy's nose when I was fifteen, though."

Colonello snorted. "What did he do?"

"Not important." Harry shook her head. She didn't want to get the two Alphas worked up even more about all the injustices in her life. "We're gonna have to say good night here, though." She said, slipping her hands free from their individual holds and turned to face the two men.

They had reached her hotel.

The two Alphas looked equally reluctant to see her leave, so Harry let out a defeated sigh.

"Alright, fine. Why don't the two of you give me your numbers and I'll call you the next time I have some time off."

Colonello instantly perked up and even Reborn looked visibly pleased.

Harry accepted the two slips of paper with name and number and then, because she felt like it, gave the two a quick kiss on the cheek each.

"Don't do anything stupid until next time!" She called over her shoulder before she stepped through the doors and into the hotel lobby.

.

Accardi's Aurors had caught the first of Harry's errant Death Eaters successfully.

"Potter." The man spat at Harry the moment he caught sight of her.

"Dolohov." Harry replied coolly, eyeing the man with intense distaste.

"We should have just put an Omega like you in your place while we had the chance." Dolohov growled in English, a look of vicious contempt overtaking and twisting his gaunt features. The years in Azkaban hadn't treated him kindly. "There's nothing as durable as an Omega's body in heat." He leered.

Harry refused to give the deranged old Alpha the satisfaction of seeing a reaction, but that didn't mean she could prevent herself from paling with unspeakable fury.

She didn't know if he was talking about that night in the graveyard when she was fourteen or at Malfoy Manor, but it really didn't matter.

"You will spend the rest of your pathetic life rotting away in prison." Harry told him frigidly, the Italian Aurors around them sending her faintly alarmed looks. "I won over your precious Dark Lord and he's dead. Think about that while we hunt down your little friend like the _rat_ he is." She hissed at the man, stalking towards him with every word until a large, sturdy arm appeared in front of her.

Harry turned towards the arm's owner with bared teeth, only to relax slightly at Accardi's steadying glance.

"Disrespect to my Aurors will be no tolerated." The Head Auror said in halting English, looking silently furious even as he curled his arm protectively around Harry, pushing her slightly behind his own hulking form. "And you," He continued in Italian, turning to glance at Harry over his shoulder. "Will not be alone with him. Ever."

Harry scowled, but silently agreed that that might be for the best.

"I have no desire to spend more time with him than absolutely necessary, I assure you." She said instead, taking a deep, calming breath.

"A whore like you _would_ know all about how to bend Alphas to your whims." Dolohov sneered. Harry didn't think he knew any Italian, but he could read their interactions well enough from body language alone. She gave him a derisive look.

"Silence him." Accardi growled at his men, one of which sent a silencing charm at the man. "Potter, my office, now."

Harry ignored the long looks from the rest of the Aurors that had been present, some concerned, some speculative, and followed the man to his office.

"What?" She asked, a bit more disrespectful than she might otherwise have done, but Dolohov's words had left her in a foul mood.

"What is your history with him?" Accardi asked, settling into his leather chair, which creaked slightly in response.

"With him specifically? Not much of anything." Harry said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and looking off to the side with a scowl. Accardi was watching her with the steady patience of an unmovable mountain. "I think you're forgetting, Accardi, that Voldemort and his Death Eaters were actively working to kill me for several years." She said when it was obvious that the man was prepared to wait her out.

"There is a difference," He began slowly, dark eyes fixed on Harry's face, "between killing and what that man was speaking of."

"They weren't all that concerned with what state I was in when they killed me." Harry said evenly, eyeing the Alpha intently. In this line of work, that shouldn't be news to him.

The silence between them was heavy with speculation as Accardi thought it over, eyeing her like he was seeing her for the first time. He was probably drawing a few conclusions from this revelation to some of her more... extreme reactions during her stay.

Harry couldn't say they were incorrect, either. She abhorred people touching her unexpectedly without her permission.

She was waiting for him to ask more, but the man surprised her with his silence.

Harry slowly relaxed from her tense, defensive position. She'd been preparing herself for an onslaught of questions, she realised.

The fact that Accardi hadn't, made him rise in her esteem.

"Was there anything else?" She asked tiredly. She wanted to go back to her hotel, relax, maybe go out for a bite to eat and not think. "I confirmed Dolohov's identity; is there anything else you need me for today?"

"No. Go home." Accardi said with a sigh. "Take tomorrow off; we're going to be busy going through with interviews and writing up all the correct paper-work for handing him over to your countrymen."

"Sounds great." Harry muttered, rising to her feet. "Have fun, and don't give the bastard an inch; he'll take a mile."

"No worries." Accardi replied with a cold smile that told her exactly what his first impression of Dolohov had been.

.

"What happened?" Was the first thing out of Reborn's mouth when he caught sight of her.

Harry grunted something unintelligible, before saying, "Don't want to talk about it."

The man tilted down his fedora to shade his eyes and exchanged a glance with Colonello, who had arrived first, before relenting with a small shrug. Colonello shook his head, as if to say he had no idea.

He wouldn't; Harry hadn't told him any more than Reborn.

"Want to tell me why you smell like Alpha?" Reborn asked instead, sounding curious rather than jealously possessive like most Alpha would. "Do I need to hunt someone down and _talk_ to them?" He added mildly, making Harry snort.

"No." She eyed the man with reluctant amusement. "I probably smell like my... current boss, I suppose." She shrugged. "He took exception to how an old _acquaintance_ spoke to me."

Reborn blinked and shared another long look with Colonello. "Is this 'acquaintance' someone we need to hunt down, then, cora?" Colonello asked pensively, projecting his movements clearly as he leaned close to her to wrap his arms around her shoulders and rest his chin on her head.

This was why she didn't mind the two touching her; they were always making their intentions clear. No unexpected grabbing and manhandling.

She leaned back against Colonello's chest and she could practically _feel_ his happy satisfaction oozing out of his skin. His scent wrapping around her certainly reinforced the impression and she almost smiled.

"No. I have it on good authority he was just arrested."

"Pity." Reborn said idly, slipping his hands into his pockets while he watched her intently, as if trying to read her mind.

"What do you two want to eat?" She finally asked, changing the subject. She needed food, and then she was going back to the hotel for some well-needed sleep. If she could catch any, that was.

"There's a nice restaurant close by I don't think you've tried yet." Reborn eventually said, tilting his head to indicate the direction.

"Sounds lovely." Harry sighed, stepped out of Colonello's loose embrace and allowed Reborn to guide her through the afternoon crowds.

Dinner _was_ lovely; traditional Italian food that was just what Harry had needed.

The company was nice too, the two men happy to distract her from her dark thoughts and memories even if they didn't know what they were.

Colonello's engaging stories and Reborn's sharp wit was all very entertaining, and Harry was even lured into sharing a few, harmless stories of her own. She had to edit out any mentions of magic, though, so they weren't completely accurate to what had really happened. But it was nice.

Right up until a rather nondescript man approached their table with an aggressive posture and had a quiet but heated discussion with Reborn in a dialect of Italian Harry hadn't heard before, which meant she didn't catch even half of what they were talking about.

She didn't have any trouble picking up on Reborn's growing temper and the way Colonello was tensing on the other side of her, looking like he was prepared to launch himself across the table and throttle the man.

Harry watched it all with narrowed eyes, glanced around the rest of the restaurant. It seemed like a popular place to eat, because every single table was full with content customers, all chatting with each other without the first clue to the mounting danger in their midst.

She wasn't aware of doing it until she noticed Colonello calming significantly and Reborn's grasp on his own temper firming and reasserting itself, but, she was releasing more pheromones than she had intended.

Not only had she increased the strength of her scent, it was calming the two Alphas down.

Harry had almost forgotten about the stranger now, because she had been very careful not to flare her scent at all when the two Alphas were with her; she did _not_ want them to lose their heads to a bout of Stupid and end up killing each other.

Harry wasn't blind; both men were far more dangerous than they tried to project.

But she was _still_ flaring her scent slightly -not enough to make the other guests notice- and it made her two companions visibly calm down and relax.

She was perplexed enough that she hardly noticed the interloper leave, chased off by a few choice words out of Reborn's mouth.

Reborn then turned to Colonello and said something in a sharp voice in a different language she couldn't understand. To which the blond answered in kind, discussing back and forth.

Harry was occupied enough by her own thoughts that she didn't mind. It was a bit interesting, actually, that the two knew yet another language, and it made her wonder if it was work-related. She had a feeling that Reborn and Colonello both worked within the same line of business, but she hadn't asked.

Deciding to attempt a small experiment, Harry increased her scent even further, watching as the two Alphas' attention instantly snapped to her with what should probably be frightening intensity.

"Why aren't you two trying to kill each other?" She asked idly, feeling strangely relaxed under the heavy gazes and pin-point focus.

Reborn blinked out of it first, snapping out of his pheromone-induced trance, to think it over.

"I'm not sure." He eventually said, giving Colonello -who was trying to shake himself out of it- a speculative once-over. "I can easily admit that I would probably react quite negatively if it were anyone else."

"Yeah. Let's not try that unless we have to." Colonello added dazedly.

"Sorry." Harry hastily pulled her scent back in to let Colonello clear his head.

"No need to apologize." Was the instant response. "You smell amazing." The blond said honestly, looking a little floored.

Harry felt her cheeks heat up in the face of such a genuinely amazed expression in reaction to how she smelled. A glance at Reborn revealed such an intensity in his eyes it wasn't helping her any.

"Please stop looking at me like that." She finally groaned, covering her eyes with the palm of a hand. She wasn't sure how long she could endure it without squirming.

Reborn blinked, smirked and then glanced around at the public setting and obligingly eased up on the focus.

Harry was grateful.

"So what have you two been up to lately?" Harry asked in an attempt to change the subject.

.

Colonello had informed her that he had some business to take care of for a couple of days, so she would get one afternoon together with Reborn only.

It just so happened that it was raining heavily that day, showers of freezing water that poured down, accompanied with harsh winds that made it perfectly reasonable to stay inside. The fact that she was tired after a largely sleepless night wasn't making things much better.

Reborn had showed up at the door to her hotel suite, water dripping off his fedora and a book clasped in one hand.

Harry had let him in with a bemused expression and curled up on the sofa with a blanket in one of the reception rooms. Reborn took off his damp jacket and hat and sat down next to her.

Having a book of her own to distract her, Harry had soon wormed her toes under Reborn's thigh for warmth, to the man's silent amusement.

Over the course of the day, Harry -somehow- migrated closer and closer to Reborn, until she was practically in his lap.

And then she _was_ in his lap, book abandoned on the sofa cushion some ways away from her.

Reborn was leaning back, relaxing against the cushions, arms held loosely around the woman in his lap. He had given up on his own reading a while ago, and was just enjoying the moment.

Harry finally gave in and moved that last inch, curling up on Reborn's lap and buried her face in the crook of his neck, taking a deep breath.

Reborn obligingly eased up on his hold on his scent and Harry practically melted.

If she had been a cat, she would have been purring. As it was, Harry gave a low, content hum.

She wasn't at all sure how much time passed. Harry was dozing lightly, feeling safe and content and was drifting on the edge of real sleep.

Reborn's scent was amazing. Warm and rich like coffee, dark chocolate and the deep shade under the trees at the height of summer. There was something wild and untamed in his scent that was utterly alluring.

A soft, half-choked sound deep in Reborn's throat made Harry conscious enough to realise what she was doing and jerk away from where she had been _licking the side of his throat_!

Face burning with embarrassment, Harry tried to stammer out an apology while Reborn just stared at her.

When she calmed down enough to properly look at him, he looked quietly astonished, behind the carefully blank facade.

"I- I'm sorry." Harry groaned, covering her face with her hands.

Reborn made a small sound again, slowly raising his hands to pull Harry's palms away from her head and then cradled her face. When she met his gaze, he looked like he had never been in this situation before, but he looked so far from unhappy that it very nearly took her breath away.

"You think I smell good enough to lick my throat." He said softly, making Harry's face burn again with a renewed wave of embarrassment.

"Yes! I'm sorry, okay?" Harry groaned. "It wasn't a conscious decision."

Reborn huffed out a low, near-silent laugh, pulling her closer until their chests were flush together.

"You are-" He began slowly, staring deeply into her eyes. "One of a kind."

Harry said nothing, but stared back. She felt that he was making up his mind about something and she shouldn't interrupt him right now. One of his thumbs were sliding back and forth slightly, tracing her right cheekbone.

"Can I kiss you?" Reborn breathed against her lips.

Instead of answering, Harry leaned forward to close the small remaining distance between them.

Reborn's fingers slid back to tangle in her hair and Harry closed her eyes, let out a small, content sigh and melted into the kiss.

By the time they broke apart, Harry found herself supported by his arm and chest, practically glued together. One of Reborn's hands was curled around her hip, tightening slightly when Harry let her head fall onto his shoulder, nuzzling her face into his neck, while the other one was cradling the back of her head.

"That was nice." She murmured against his skin, feeling placidly relaxed and pleased.

"Let's do it again sometime." Reborn agreed, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug.

.

A few days later when Colonello leaned down to press his lips against Harry's, Reborn silently melted into the background without a word of protest.

Harry really wondered what she was doing.

.

Thorfinn Rowle was caught soon after, all the paperwork finished and the two Death Eaters had been handed over to the English Aurors before Harry knew it.

"Are you going back to England?" Accardi asked, reclining in his creaky leather chair.

"I was actually planning to stay here a while, travel around a bit." Harry said. "See more of your country."

"Will you be giving me trouble, Potter?" Accardi asked, his voice an amused rumble.

Harry snorted. "Not if I can help it." She shook her head with wry exasperation. "I could come back here and say goodbye before going back home." She offered with a slight smile.

"Feel free to come back whenever, Potter." The man smiled. "And now that we're no longer working together, call me Dario. The Missus has asked that I invite you home for dinner before you leave."

"I'd love to." Harry grinned. Accardi had grown on her during her weeks in Italy. "Let me know where and when and I'll do my best to be there."

She left to the sound of Dario Accardi's hearty laughter.

.

"You called?" Reborn said, announcing his presence where he was leaning against a near-by wall.

Harry smiled at him. "Yes. You know how I told you my work here was almost done?" Both men nodded, Colonello taking her hand and braiding their fingers together with something like relish. "Well, I'm done." She said.

"You're going back home?" Colonello asked, turning to stare at her with a pensive expression.

Harry shook her head. "Not really. The situation back there is..." How was she supposed to explain this without mentioning magic, she mused wryly. "I was thinking I'd take some vacation time here."

"Does this have anything to do with your title, Dame Potter?" Reborn asked casually, looking faintly amused.

Harry frowned at him. "How long have you known about that?"

"A while." The man shrugged elegantly, being deliberately vague.

"Wait, cora." Colonello said, tugging Harry around to stare at her. "You're, what, knighted?" He asked, a gob-smacked expression on his face. "Since when? For what?"

Harry eyed him with reluctant amusement pulling on her lips. "A few months ago, and 'for serviced rendered Queen and country'." She recited evenly. "The Queen seemed like a nice lady." She added into the weighty silence.

Reborn made a sound like an aborted snort and pushed off the wall he was leaning against and approached them.

"Do you know where you want to go?" He asked, looking at Harry with dark, curious eyes.

"Not really." Harry shook her head.

"How about Rome, cora?" Colonello suggested. "It has loads of things to see."

"The seat of Catholicism and God's power on earth?" Harry mused wryly. "Sure, why not." What was the worst that could happen? With the current political climate, she doubted the magical world would allow her to be burned at the stake. There'd be a revolution first.

"Great. Just let me grab a few things and we'll go." Colonello smiled, looking excited.

"Wait." Harry blinked at him. "What do you mean? You're coming with me?"

"We're _both_ going with you." Reborn told her like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Harry stared at them, hardly able to believe what she was hearing. "You've barely known me two weeks." She pointed out sensibly, feeling like she had to be the responsible one, for once.

...Had it been just two weeks?

Both men made dismissive motions, waving her words aside as if they meant nothing.

"I haven't taken a proper vacation in years, cora." Colonello fairly bounced on his feet with cheerful excitement.

Harry was feeling more and more amused by the second, despite herself. She should probably be feeling overwhelmed with trepidation and growing dread by now, but she just felt a surge of warmth in her chest that she couldn't quite name.

"Okay."

Reborn _smiled_ at her while Colonello beamed.

Harry felt a little flushed because she had already known both men were incredibly handsome, but having both of them smiling at her like that really drove it home. With a vengeance.

"Um, I'll just- wait here then?" She asked haltingly, trying to clear her head.

"I should hope so." Reborn said, taking a careful hold of her hand and giving it a brief squeeze, before bringing it up to his face a pressing his lips to her palm.

Harry cleared her throat and was determined not to say anything stupid to that. "Not like you wouldn't find me anyway." She muttered.

Reborn chuckled against the palm of her hand, then let her go and wandered off with a casual, "See you in a bit, Harry."

Colonello wrapped his arms around Harry in a hug, staring after Reborn with a slight frown. "Bastard." He said, as if stating something to himself, more than anything else.

Harry brought a hand to her face in embarrassment, before sighing and leaning into Colonello's chest.

"You two are going to be the death of me." She muttered, feeling the irony like a physical thing. Voldemort hadn't been able to permanently kill her, but these two Alphas...

"I hope not." Colonello mumbled into her hair, tightening his arms around her, before he reluctantly stepped away from her. "I should go, too, cora. Or Reborn will try and leave me behind." He gave her a quick, wry smile that was mostly playful.

"I wouldn't let him." Harry assured him amusedly, surprised to realise that it was perfectly true.

A two hour train-ride later, Harry stepped off the muggle transportation in Rome with the two Alphas on either side of her.

The first order of business was to find somewhere to stay.

"The idiot and I could easily stay some place else, if you're uncomfortable." Reborn said before they could walk into the hotel Harry had chosen.

Harry considered it, studying the two Alphas a moment, before she shook her head.

"We're not sharing a room." She pointed out frankly. "It's fine. It'll be more practical to have you close-by anyway; won't make you have to hunt me down every time I decide to go for a walk."

Both men looked far too pleased with her words than Harry felt was reasonable.

At least this hotel wasn't fancy enough to make her uncomfortable. It was definitely nice, but Harry was happy to note her rooms couldn't quite be classified as a full suite.

There was a sitting room area inside the door, then a large bedroom, with a nice luxurious bathroom. But that was it, and Harry was satisfied. She hadn't known what to do with all the space in the last hotel, but it wasn't like she could complain about the Italian Ministry treating her _too_ well.

Closing the door behind her to unpack a few things, Harry pondered the fact that neither Reborn nor Colonello had questioned her lack of baggage. Reborn had eyed her single backpack with some interest, but hadn't said a thing about it.

After she had refreshed herself a bit, Harry returned to the hotel lobby for her first day exploring Rome.

.

"Are you running from something?" Reborn asked quietly the next evening. They were sitting in a small, quiet restaurant enjoying the company and a nice glass of wine each after a wonderful dinner.

"My past?" Harry suggested with a wry smile. She was staring into the deep red liquid in her glass, watching the light reflected from the lit candle standing in the middle of their table.

Colonello tilted his head. "You're not running from some _one_ , right? Because we could totally take care of that, cora," he offered seriously. As if he didn't mind the thought of doing something like that for her.

Harry's lips twisted into a rueful smile. "No." If things had only been that easy. "All my friends are waiting for me back home, but I can't make myself go back there quite yet." She admitted.

"Anything they did?" Reborn asked idly, swirling his own wine.

"Not even close." Harry laughed weakly. "They're just not the only things waiting for me." The fame, the responsibilities, the... memories.

Here, in Italy, the memories were hounding her every step. Back in Britain, they were walking next to her, reminding her of every spot where something had happened.

She couldn't visit the Ministry half the time without remembering Sirius dying. Or her, Hermione and Ron's infiltration and the terror of all those Muggleborn witches and wizards.

It was worse when she visited Hogwarts.

"Ever known anyone that died?" She asked out of the blue. At a quick glance at the two males, they both nodded. "Well, so do I. A whole lot of them."

Harry tried not to sound too bitter, she really did. That didn't mean she managed to prevent the emotion from spilling over into her words, though.

With a slight grimace, she took a mouthful of wine. The taste wasn't quite to her liking, but the slight burn down her throat was grounding enough that she didn't care.

She put her glass down with a deep sigh and forced a smile. "Sorry to bring down the mood."

"There is very little you could do to ruin an evening, Harry." Reborn drawled, leaning back in his chair and making it look as comfortable as a throne.

"No one can be happy all the time, cora." Colonello added with a concerned frown.

She knew that, but if she started thinking about all the crap, then it felt like she'd never be happy again and she didn't want that.

The war was _over_.

It was time for the happily ever after now, wasn't it?

...wasn't it?

The scary part was that she wasn't even sure any more. She'd like to say yes, but. How did you walk away from something like that without any lasting means?

"Where do you want to go first tomorrow?" Reborn asked, sliding Harry's hand into his own and squeezing it gently, bringing her out of her spiralling thoughts. "Since you've never been here before, I figured me and the idiot over there could give you a few suggestions."

"I think I'd like that." Harry smiled gratefully at Reborn, who squeezed her hand again and Harry curled her fingers around his in response. "So, Reborn, Colonello. What are your favourite haunts in this pious city?" She asked with a playful glint in her eyes.

She was here to have a good time, not wallow in misery and self-pity.

It was time to live a little.

-x-x-x-


	9. Chapter 9

**WARNING** **:** **THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT!**

 **I am just throwing the lot of you into the deep end here, hoping you don't drown. (Or that you won't drown _me_ , but, details.)**

 **Have I mentioned lately that I'm surprised I haven't received much in the way of flames yet? Because I have a feeling this chapter might be what does it. And yes, I _have_ been procrastinating posting this chapter due to acute embarrassment. Which, you know. Is true. I have never posted anything like this before, so, if you feel like killing me after reading this, I can only pray you'll be quick and efficient.**

 **Now, excuse me while I go hide in a corner where I won't have to face or talk to anyone ever again. Ever.**

 **Hold Your Head High**

 **Chapter 9**

Harry got a mostly wonderful week with her two Alphas, visiting the regular tourist sights of the city, or just wandering around quaint streets, eating amazing food, spending time together.

Then Harry woke up one morning, at the very start of February, feeling flushed and hot and immensely uncomfortable.

"Oh, no." Harry groaned into her pillow, pulling the covers up over her head.

If she ignored it, it might go away.

It didn't go away.

If anything, it felt worse than usual. Harry had hardly moved since she woke up, but she was panting, and pulling the covers over her head didn't do anything to calm her down; like it usually did.

Darkness and calm had always worked before, but right now, it just made her feel like she couldn't breathe properly.

"Merlin damn it all." Harry mumbled, pressing a hand to her face.

Some time later -Harry couldn't tell if ten minutes had passed or an hour- there was a knock on the door to her room.

Harry curled into herself with an unhappy whine.

Of course, Reborn and Colonello would be wondering why she hadn't come down to the lobby by now. They'd had plans for today, even though she couldn't really remember what they had been right now.

It knocked again. Insistently.

Harry very reluctantly dragged herself from bed, making certain that her scent was tucked away with meticulous care and then staggered out into the sitting room and towards the door. She was just glad that she had decided to sleep in one of the pyjamas that she had brought with her, because otherwise, she'd have been forced to dress first. That would have been a challenge, what with her currently somewhat lacking coordination.

"Yes?" She asked through the door, managing to sound mostly like normal.

"Harry?" That was Colonello. "Is everything alright, cora?"

"Yeah." She said, closing her eyes and leaning up against the door. "Just, I'm staying in here today." And tomorrow. And the day after that, probably.

She tried not to pant loud enough for Colonello to hear it through the door.

"Did something happen?" And that was Reborn. Of course.

Harry bit back a groan, having to bite her lower lip to keep from making any noise.

"Harry, if you don't answer me right now, I'm kicking in the door." He said evenly and Harry didn't doubt he'd go through with it.

"No." She groaned, sliding down a little against the door before she caught herself. "Just." How was she supposed to deal with this? "Can't you spend the day without me?"

"Are you hurt?" Colonello asked, sounding more serious than Harry had ever heard him.

"No." Harry laughed softly, helplessly. "I'll just- I'll let you in, but you're _not_ allowed to hurt each other!" She told them through the door.

She could feel the confused, pensive silence on the other side, but both men agreed even if they didn't understand why, just yet.

Harry fumbled with the lock a moment, before she could manage to get her fingers to work properly and the lock clicked as it slid open.

She stepped back and opened the door, blinking dazedly up at Reborn and Colonello, who immediately eyed her with sharp, serious intensity.

She waved them through the door and quickly closed it behind them, sagging against it with relief.

"Are you sick, cora?" Colonello asked concernedly, placing a hand on her forehead. Harry's eye-lids slipped down until they were half-mast and heavy. Colonello's hand felt nice and cool against her flushed skin.

Reborn had walked into the sitting room, taken a seat on the sofa there and was watching Harry with a slight frown.

She could see the moment he realised what was going on, because he tensed until his whole body was rigid, his eyes wide and face carefully blank.

"You should sit down." Harry murmured to Colonello, who was looking down on her with open worry. "And remember what I said!" She added a bit louder, including Reborn too. "No fighting, or harming, or maiming and killing each other."

Her control over her voice was slipping and she might have slurred a little. At least her control over her own scent was still absolute, she consoled herself.

"Okay." Colonello said the moment he had sat down, eyeing Harry. "I'm sitting down, cora. What's the matter, Harry?"

Harry groaned, pushed away from the door and managed to make her way to the lone armchair, slumping into it with a bleary glare at the two Alphas. Them being this close to her wasn't helping her any.

"I'm not sick."

"You're in heat, aren't you?" Reborn asked quietly, looking like a spring wound too tight, like he'd snap any moment. To do what, Harry didn't know.

Colonello's eyes widened exponentially. "You don't smell like you're in heat, cora." The words rushed out of his mouth, gaze roaming over Harry as if he would be able to see a difference in her. Which he could; he had just taken the signs as symptoms of sickness.

"And that is taking a lot of effort." Harry moaned, slumping down even further in the armchair, curling into herself. When she opened her eyes -when had she closed them?- the two males were almost vibrating in their seat, and Harry blinked drowsily at them.

"What do you want us to do, Harry?" Reborn asked in a strained voice and Harry wanted to commend his self-control.

Harry closed her eyes again.

What did she want to do? What did she _want_?

The faint smell of Alpha pheromones in the air was making her feel like she was on fire.

"Are you in pain?" Colonello's choked voice asked, and when Harry looked at him, it looked like he had to physically restrain himself from approaching her.

She let out a heavy sigh, managed to get to her feet and slowly approached the two Alphas. Who looked like she was the only thing in existence right now.

"Don't want you to fight." She murmured as she sank down to sit between them. She was perhaps not making anything easier for them, but the closeness was enough to make her unwind a little.

"Won't." Reborn fairly growled, staring intently down on her.

"Promise?" Harry breathed.

"Yeah, cora." Colonello affirmed roughly.

Harry eyed first one and then the other and with a deep, heavy breath, let go of the control on her scent.

The Alphas on either side of her reacted instantly.

Before, they'd been tense enough that they had near-trembled in their seats. Now, both men had calmed in a relaxed-ready manner that Harry found distantly peculiar.

She'd love to cuddle, actually.

"Is it mean of me to ask for cuddles?" She asked, meeting first Reborn's and then Colonello's gazes.

"No." Reborn eventually said, jaw clenching and unclenching a bit before he got the words out. "Can I..." A hint of uncertainty flickered over his face, before it disappeared again without a trace. "Do you mind if I let go of my scent?"

"Please do." The words were out of Harry's mouth before she could think about it. It was instinctive. "You too." She said, sagging languidly against Colonello's side, feeling like she could just roll around in both their scents and be perfectly happy.

Like a content cat, Harry stretched out until she was sprawled out on the sofa, head and shoulders in Colonello's lap, legs in Reborn's.

She was feeling a bit better now, and she smiled up at the Alphas with what was no doubt a ditzy, dopey smile that would have made Luna proud.

"Harry." Reborn began, a growl underlining her name. One of his hands had curled around one of her legs. "You're playing a dangerous game right now."

"Don't make this any harder, cora." Colonello groaned, closing his eyes and bringing one trembling hand up to his face to cover his mouth.

Harry would feel a bit guilty if the close contact with the two men weren't making her feel so good. Their scents wrapping around her alone was enough to make her want to purr.

"Sorry." She mumbled, not feeling very apologetic, "Being close is good." She sighed, eyelids falling half-way closed. "Feels nice."

Colonello groaned again and Reborn's grip on her leg tightened fractionally.

"Harry." Reborn said again, his voice coming awfully close to being flat. "You need to decide. Do you want us to leave?"

"No." Harry knew that with certainty.

"Then you ought to know that this will be," He paused to take a deep breath, " _tricky_ , if you don't want to do more than cuddle."

And Harry may just fall a little more in love with them for being fully prepared to tough it out without going any further than she wanted, even if it might drive them insane.

Harry watched them through heavy-lidded eyes, feeling more content than she ever had during a heat. It was tinged with something else, though.

She didn't want them to leave, she wanted the physical contact.

And... she wanted them.

 _Them_. Both of them. Was she supposed to choose? She wondered suddenly, worry edging in on the comfortable haze she'd been drifting in in the last few minutes. Would they even want her if they had to share?

Alphas were possessive and it was widely accepted that they _didn't share_.

Feeling troubled now, Harry focused back on the two attentive Alphas.

"Stay." Her voice was breathy, "But." Her gaze flicked from one to the other several times. "Um-"

Reborn seemed to get what the problem was, because he sighed and released her leg.

"Colonello and I need to have a short conversation, it seems." He said, eyeing his fellow Alpha, who blinked back. "We'll be right back." He said, carefully shifting Harry's legs out of his lap and rising to his feet.

Harry caught his sleeve as he walked passed. "No fighting." She insisted in a would-be stern voice. She suspected that she failed, because Reborn merely stared down at her with a heated look and Colonello twitched, before he slipped out from under her.

It made Harry very aware of _how_ exactly she was affecting the two men.

She watched them draw back to the other side of the room, talking quietly, and Harry tried to pull in some of her overwhelming scent, even if it was immensely difficult. She figured they could use clear heads.

Feeling ridiculously lonely on the sofa now, Harry mournfully watched the Alphas on the other side of the room, wanting them back with her. Right now.

She knew she was being ridiculous.

Was this another aspect of Omega-ness that she had been unaware of up until now? She _could_ vaguely remember Pomfrey mentioning, years ago, that things would be different once she had found an Alpha that she favoured... was this what she had meant?

Harry rolled over onto her side, burying her face in the sofa-cushion, which still smelled like Colonello.

Curling up on her side, Harry frowned with irritation when he pyjama pants twisted around her legs, clinging to her skin and constricting her movements. She tugged absently at them, turning her attention back on the two men, who where... watching her now.

Harry lifted her head and eyed them right back. Were they done?

She pushed herself into an upright position, waiting for the two to either continue their talk or come back to her. Preferably the latter option!

Reborn growled something to Colonello, who nodded eagerly, before they both walked back to her at a deliberately measured pace.

Harry looked from one to the other, waiting for them to say something.

Reborn sat down in the armchair, sighing and leaning back with deliberate casualness.

"I knew from early on that if this was going to lead anywhere, we'd have to share." He shrugged. "I have the best self-control." He added when Harry frowned unhappily at him.

She glanced at Colonello when he sat down next to her, but turned back to Reborn, still with a slight frown.

That was right. There were two of them and just one of her...

"Sorry." She said with a sigh, slumping back onto Colonello's lap, who caught her with an arm under her shoulders and pulled her back upright.

Reborn shrugged, eyeing her like a large, lethal cat eyeing possible prey.

On anyone else, a look like that would have made her skin crawl. Reborn just made her feel flustered and hot. She wasn't prey, but she very much wanted to be caught. And possibly devoured.

"Is this what you really want, cora?" Colonello asked, staring into her eyes with heated concern.

"Yes." Harry breathed and arched her back to be able to kiss him silent.

Colonello responded without pause, sucking her lower lip into his mouth, one hand slipping under the shirt of her pyjamas to slide up her stomach to her chest.

Harry shivered in delight and readily opened her mouth to deepen the kiss.

She wanted her clothes off. Now.

They made her feel trapped and her skin itchy.

"Clothes. Off." She moaned and positively squirmed as she tried to slip out of her pyjama trousers without unwinding her arms from around Colonello's neck.

She distantly realised that she was no doubt giving Reborn quite the show, but she was a bit too distracted by her own overwhelming _need_ to care. (She might do so when the heat was over, but that wasn't important right now.)

Colonello's large hands fumbled a little with the string keeping the trousers from slipping down her hips before pulling one of them, undoing the knot.

Harry buried her face in the side of Colonello's neck when her legs slipped free and widened the distance between their torsos to let Colonello's hands undo the buttons on her jacket, before pushing the cloth down her shoulders.

Harry let go of the male only long enough to let it drop to the floor.

There was a low, rumbling growl from behind her and Harry glanced over her shoulder just long enough for her to notice that Reborn's dark gaze was fixed on her back. One of her shoulders, actually.

Her mind was fuzzy enough that it took a heartbeat before she realised what he was staring at.

The scar on her shoulder from the Horntail extended down her back a short distance, even though most of it was on her front.

That dragon's tail had been wickedly sharp.

Then Colonello's mouth was on her throat and she lost all ability to think beyond her bodily sensations for a while.

His teeth dragging lightly over her shoulder -where the Mate Mark traditionally went- made her moan and begin to fumble with the button on his military style trousers.

"Too many clothes." She panted, and when had she moved so that she had one leg on either side of Colonello's hips? Not that it mattered.

Harry was blessedly naked; she just needed Colonello to catch up. Something he seemed equally eager to accomplish.

She got the button open, pulled down the zipper and tugged on the lining of the clothing item insistently until Colonello raised his hips, effortlessly lifting her with them, and kicked them off enough that the only thing separating them was the thin fabric of the man's boxers.

Harry was trembling too much with anticipation to be of much use now, the heat reducing her to a mess of raging hormones and pheromones.

Colonello growled and practically ripped his own underwear off.

Harry gasped when skin met skin, but she was still _empty_.

She keened desperately, fingers tangling in the shirt covering Colonello's chest, nearly ripping the fabric with the force of her grip.

Colonello's hands returned to Harry's hips, lifting her up and guiding her carefully until it would be easy for her to simply sink down over his throbbing cock.

The thought made her make a small, needy sound that made Colonello's hands tighten a fraction. Not even close to hard enough to bruise her skin, but definitely enough to make her notice.

Colonello made an answering sound, burying his face in Harry's shoulder, right over the cluster of glands that were located there, secreting pheromones.

When she had to stop herself from squirming out of Colonello's grip just to get some sort of reprieve from her burning need, the hollowness inside, the man slowly, carefully began to lower her down on top of him.

With a small gasp, Harry closed her eyes as he slid inside, sating some sort of urge she had had for years but never understood.

There was plenty of 'knowledge' that was considered to be universally accepted as true, like the thing Dolohov had said to her; that an Omega's body during heat was incredibly durable. Another was that Alphas tended to be... bigger than Betas. Not by a ridiculous degree, but at least on the larger end of the scale.

When Harry was once more straddling Colonello's hips, their bodies sealed together, a shudder ran through her body, making Colonello moan quietly against her skin before dragging his tongue over her collarbone.

Harry leaned back slightly, feeling the pressure of Colonello inside of her shift at the change in posture, and tilted her head back.

The man's hands were still on her hips, rubbing back and forth before reaching back to grab at her ass.

Harry felt her breath hitch and then Colonello was guiding her hips in a rocking motion that made her want to melt into a puddle of pleasurable goo.

There were sounds escaping her mouth that she was only half-conscious of, but Harry didn't care.

Every movement made pleasure shudder through her body in waves she had no interest in trying to suppress or resist, and it didn't take long before she was moving mostly on her own, leaving Colonello with full use of his hands. Which he took full advantage of.

By the time Harry came, she no longer felt like she would burn up -after the white hot ecstasy had run its' course and she could think again- but it wasn't enough.

There was a deep growl behind her and someone picked her up, turned her around and Harry happily wrapped her arms and legs around Reborn as he carried her into the bedroom.

Lying stretched out on something soft that smelled mostly like herself, she watched with quickly waning contentedness as Reborn divested himself of his clothes and then followed her onto the bed until her was leaning over her.

Harry was happy to open her mouth to him, and Reborn was a bit rougher than she might have guessed, but... having to watch, she supposed, was enough to make any Alpha impatient.

She was just happy to accept everything Reborn was willing to give.

He was filling her before the need could grow too big, before it became unbearable.

.

When Harry woke up early the next morning, she was still feeling the heat. It wasn't as bad as yesterday morning, but she was still feeling the slowly growing discomfort.

It helped that she woke up ensconced within the arms of her two sleeping Alphas. Reborn and Colonello were wrapped around her, one on either side, holding her between them and Harry had _never_ felt so safe and secure before in her life.

Gazing at their relaxed faces a moment, Harry realised that she couldn't possibly wake them. They must be exhausted and her discomfort wasn't that bad.

At this level, it was just annoying, really, and she had suffered the same during heat since she was twelve. It was nothing she wasn't used to.

Not to mention that she had survived torture of various forms with her sanity intact.

This was nothing.

Really.

With a small sigh, Harry slowly, carefully untangled herself from the two sleeping men and painstakingly made her way out of the bedroom.

It was going against every instinct in her body to leave her Alphas' sides right now, but Harry was stubborn. She had never let her baser instincts rule her and she wasn't about to start now.

She had... _enjoyed_ the previous day, but a heat was actually harsher on an Alpha than on an Omega, in a way. They needed their rest.

Harry staggered from the bedroom door to the sitting room sofa, sinking down on the soft cushions with a grateful sigh.

She was starting to feel a bit achy, but it wasn't that bad yet. That didn't mean that it wasn't nice to lie down.

Curling up on her side, Harry dozed until the sound of faint footsteps roused her.

"What're you doin' out here, cora?" Colonello murmured drowsily, looking like he was hardly awake.

"Didn't wanna wake you." Harry yawned and stretched a little. When she focused back on Colonello, the man was watching her with eyes darkened with want. She wanted to ask if he was okay, but he looked eager enough she felt it was unnecessary.

Colonello approached calmly, in no rush. Harry smiled when he sat down next to her instead of manhandling her.

So considerate. Him and Reborn both.

Even when he was sexually frustrated enough that any other man would've lost all sense, Reborn had been careful, mindful of Harry in a way that made her want to give him everything.

Without Colonello asking a thing of her, verbally or through body-language, Harry pushed herself up and pulled herself onto Colonello's lap, onto his eager erection.

It was almost exactly the same as the day before when this strange thing had first started. The only difference was that Reborn wasn't sitting in the chair behind her, watching.

Harry was lying on Colonello's chest, feeling content for now to just be filled and was close to a slumber-like, perfectly content state.

Fingers touching the end of the scar on her shoulder made her hum appreciatively, a smile pulling on her lips as she turned her head to look into Reborn's dark, alert eyes.

When his hand slowly trailed down her back, following the curve of her spine, Harry arched into the touch, her eyes fluttering closed.

His lips pressed against her back, where shoulder and neck joined, before dragging his tongue over the place to taste her scent and then nipped her gently, teeth barely scraping her skin hard enough to leave red marks.

Harry sighed, a pleasant shiver moving through her and making Colonello's breath catch ever so slightly.

She was almost sandwiched between them, and the thought alone was enough to make her breath grow laboured. The fact that Reborn kept touching her, encouraging her body to embrace the heat, was making it even harder to remain calm and content.

One of the dark haired Alpha's hands had slipped down to caress her behind, simultaneously pressing her more firmly onto Colonello's dick, Harry automatically, instinctively arched into the touch, a soft moan ghosting across her lips.

Opening her eyes a small slit, Harry could see the fascinated, intrigued glint in his eyes, before he repeated the motion, thumb rubbing the skin over her tail bone.

Harry couldn't pay much attention for a while, turning her face into Colonello's chest to muffle the noises it made her make against his skin.

Reborn slowly increased the pressure his thumb was applying, dragging the digit downwards until -Harry let out a harsh, trembling breath, feeling her insides clench in reaction to the outward stimuli.

Colonello moaned softly, burying his nose in Harry's hair and pulling her more firmly down on him, and subsequently on Reborn's hand.

She had to bite her lower lip sharply to stay somewhat focused.

This shouldn't feel so... nice. Amazing. Absolutely maddening!

Reborn was massaging her now, pressing and rubbing and Harry couldn't stay still. His other hand was on one of her legs, guiding her to spread wider, and Harry, she _wanted_ this.

She knew it, down to her bones.

The thought of both her Alphas, inside her, at the same time, was enough to tip her over the edge into orgasm, her body tensing with electric pleasure.

Colonello's hold on her, his hands on her skin, tightened in reaction and he cursed lowly, voice barely more than a rough growl.

When Harry came down from her high, Reborn was still rubbing her and pressing gently and her body just- complied.

One of Reborn's fingers were inside of her, rubbing slowly and steadily. It was, sending entirely new sensations up her spine until Harry whined with unfulfilled desperation.

Then he was gone and Harry objected verbally with a drawn-out, pitiful "No." in a voice she would be hard-pressed to recognize as her own.

Reborn re-joined them quickly, however, and when his fingers returned to circling her hole, they were slick and gliding over her skin like they'd been covered in oil.

A possibility, she mused briefly, absently, before Reborn's finger slid back inside, easier this time and soon followed by a second.

Harry was panting hard, as if she'd been through a workout rather than just lie on Colonello's chest. She couldn't stop moving against Reborn's hand and the combination of Colonello still inside of her...

She could distantly recognize that she was a mess.

A very pliant, very receptive mess.

Reborn pushed another finger inside of her and Harry bit her lower lip again, a moan trembling through her throat despite her best efforts to be silent.

She had at some point fisted a hand in her own hair, elbow supported on Colonello's broad shoulder, as if trying to ground herself. It wasn't really working, but at least she knew where it was. Her other hand was clutching desperately at Colonello, possibly at his shoulder, but maybe his chest. She didn't know and she was too distracted to care to find out.

The only things that existed right now, were her, Colonello and Reborn. The rest of the world could have ended and Harry wouldn't have noticed.

"I can't- there's not-" Harry gasped, unable to articulate just how desperate for that last bit of closeness she was. "I need-" her voice trailed off into a keen of pure need that Reborn seemed perfectly capable of understanding.

His fingers withdrew from inside of her, there was a seconds pause -that felt far too long- and then a solid heat was pressing against the loosened muscle, slick and hot but still facing some resistance.

Harry breathed through the sensation, shuddering with every centimetre that pushed inside.

Slowly, carefully, deeper and deeper.

When Reborn was fully sheathed inside of her, Harry felt full to the point of bursting but it was so deliciously good she was close to sobbing.

No one moved for a long time other than to breathe, sucking down deep, gasping breaths. Like none of them could get enough air.

Colonello recovered first, and letting one of his hands trail down from her left breast to her hip, he pulled out of the soft, slick heat just a little only to slowly push back inside.

Harry made -some sort of sound, and Reborn hissed out something behind her and tightened his grip on her, as if afraid she'd slip away if he didn't hold on tight enough.

When _Reborn_ slowly began to move, just rocking back and forth the slightest bit at first, Harry crashed into another orgasm almost instantly, and by the time she could think again, she was fairly sure the two Alphas had come too. Not that it was all that noticeable, since both were still as hard as they'd been before.

Sharing a heat with an Alpha was _strange_. Not to mention sharing it with two!

Harry gasped something that was part breathless laughter and part tremulous pleasure and untangled her hand from her own hair to clasp it onto the hand she suddenly discovered Reborn had on her shoulder.

Harry spent the last day of her heat in awe-inspiring bliss and when she woke up the next day, they had somehow migrated back to the bed. All three of them.

-x-x-x-

Harry woke up feeling more placidly languid than she had ever experienced in her life.

She was awake and relatively well-rested, but you couldn't make her move for anything in the world.

She was _perfectly_ happy where she was, lying on her back, a heavy arm draped over her waist, another over her chest and her legs were so firmly tangled with the Alphas' she could hardly tell which limbs were her own.

A pale, nondescript light was filtering in through the bedroom window telling her it was most likely not even dawn.

Harry let out a quiet, satisfied sigh and shifted a little until she was more comfortable.

The arm draped over her waist instantly began to curl around her and tighten in reaction, as if trying to prevent her from wandering off again.

Feeling perfectly agreeable to being dragged closer to Reborn's chest, Harry merely hummed happily, letting her eyes drift closed again.

There was a soft, discontented sound on her left and Harry cracked an eye open to watch Colonello's slight frown as he shuffled after her, leaving her even more tightly wrapped up in the two males, almost squashed between their solid forms.

A slow, sure smile was spreading over Harry's face, and she had never felt so... openly cared for. Even asleep, her two Alphas made sure to keep her close, but still ensure that she was comfortable.

Harry realised that this could easily have turned into some sort of tug of war rather than what she was experiencing right now.

"You awake?" A sleep-rough voice murmured into her right ear, making her shiver.

"Yeah, but don't worry. I'm happy to stay here like this." Harry replied in a voice that was just as quiet.

Reborn opened one eye to peer drowsily at her, before letting out a heavy breath and burying his nose in her hair.

"Don't leave." It would have been an order -like it was probably intended- if not for the vague, barely-awake quality to his voice.

"I'll stay." Harry promised with a smile. "You couldn't pay me to move." She added, despite the fact that Reborn was no doubt already asleep again.

Colonello grumbled something unintelligible into her shoulder and tightened his own grip, as if he had caught the gist of the conversation even in his sleep and was agreeing fully with his fellow Alpha.

"Yes, sir." Harry said placidly, answering the imagined 'No moving' that Colonello's mutter had no doubt been supposed to be. She would have saluted, if only her arms hadn't been trapped under the steel bands masquerading as arms attached to the two men's shoulders.

She dozed contentedly for a couple of hours before her bed-partners began to stir.

Harry opened her eyes when Reborn tightened his hold on her as he woke up, taking a deep breath of her -since his nose was still buried in her hair- and slowly relaxed at the same time as he opened his eyes to blink sleepily at her.

His gaze quickly cleared, however, when they locked with Harry's green one.

Harry could practically _see_ the memories of the last two days trickle back into his mind, feeling her own cheeks tinge pink for the same reason.

She still felt too good for the full-blown embarrassment she suspected would hit her like the Hogwarts Express later, though.

"Morning." Reborn breathed, curling his arms tightly around Harry's waist -again- before one hand slid down to caress her hip.

Harry sighed, eyelids drooping as lazy pleasure rolled through her tired body.

Reborn hummed contentedly and bent his head down so he could lick lazily at the juncture of Harry's neck and shoulder. Like a sleepy panther.

"That feels nice." Harry mumbled, shifting a little to give Reborn easier access.

By the time Colonello roused to join them in the world of the living, Reborn had very nearly fallen back asleep, but was jerked into full wakefulness when the blonde stretched.

"Good morning." Harry greeted him, calmly enjoying the morning so far.

Colonello muttered something unintelligible back at her before releasing an explosive sigh.

"That. Was awesome." He said with a lazy grin that made Harry's face heat up. That was also a way to sum up the last two days, she supposed ruefully, resisting the urge to cover her face with her hands.

Reborn snorted, but said nothing to disagree.

"Best heat so far." Harry mumbled, trying to ignore her own embarrassment. The ceiling in this room was fascinating. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed before now.

One of Reborn's hands were trailing up her stomach to rest lightly between her breasts, brushing over the oval scar from the locket, only to come to a rest against the scar over her heart.

"Was this the first time you shared a heat?" He asked, tracing the fresh-looking scar with careful, experienced fingers. The skin he touched felt warm and somehow eased an ache Harry hadn't even been conscious of.

"Mhm." Harry hummed, feeling like she could melt under the pressure or Reborn's fingertips gently digging into her chest muscles and somehow easing a pain she had gotten so used to it had become normal. When he was done with whatever it was he was doing, his fingers glided over to the scar from the Horntail, tracing it up to her shoulder, only for his hand to wander down the length of her left arm to explore the scars there.

"Would you try to run away from me if I told you I wanted to Mate with you?" Reborn asked idly, a casual tone to his voice that made his words seem less serious than they were.

Harry, eyes closed and so relaxed she was drifting on a cloud of pure bliss, took a moment to digest the words, even after she had already answered.

"No. I'd love to."

The silence in the room thickened and Harry opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling as she realised what she'd just said.

The tension was broken by a small, quiet sound from Colonello.

Harry sat up, despite the fact that her muscles felt like jelly and just laying down was pleasurable the same way a hot bath was.

She had to support her own weight with her hands, but she twisted to stare down at the blonde, who was staring right back at her, looking a heart-breaking mixture of resigned and tiredly pained. Like he had expected this.

Harry leaned all her weight on one hand to use the other one to cup his face, thumb smoothing away none-existent tears from his cheekbone.

Colonello wasn't crying, but something told her it felt like his soul was.

"No. No, I didn't mean-" She broke off, wondering what she really meant. Harry knew it on an instinctual level, what she felt, what she wanted, but she couldn't put it into words. With a frustrated huff, she leaned down to press her forehead against Colonello's. "Unless _you want_ to get away from me, you're staying right here." She told him firmly, not so much as blinking as she met his blue eyes.

Reborn let out an exasperated sigh behind her.

"Haven't you realised yet, Colonello?" He asked, and when Harry glanced at him, he had rolled over onto his back, one hand tucked under his head while the other one was splayed over Harry's thigh. "She's a Sky, you idiot."

Trying to figure out what that meant, Harry absently noticed Colonello's gaze turning back to her, his eyes slowly widening, as if staring at her with slowly dawning realisation.

"What does that mean?" Harry finally asked, sitting back up again, turning around so that she could stare at both males at the same time, legs folded up in front of her.

If she'd been a little less distracted, she would have remembered that she was still naked and that she was giving them quite the view.

Colonello breathed out a faint curse, looking like he could hardly believe it. "She's- You're an Active Sky and you don't even know it."

"It's incredibly rare, but not entirely unheard of." Reborn said slowly, not looking particularly pleased with his own words.

Harry frowned. They made it sound like she had done something wrong.

"Wait." Colonello said, shooting Reborn a quick look. "Are we even sure, cora?" He added, looking suddenly anxious.

Reborn looked wryly amused and fixed Harry with a heated look that made her both tense and relax at the same time.

"Harry, what would you do if someone tried to take us away from you without our permission?"

She didn't even have to think about it. The words alone made her bare her teeth and let out a growl that sounded too deep and animalistic for her slight form.

When she snapped out of it, Reborn was _smiling_ at her. Not smirking or looking smugly superior and amused, but honest to Merlin smiling.

It was fucking _hot_.

Colonello looked like he was contemplating jumping her bones, despite the fact that he was no doubt pleasantly exhausted after the last two days' exertion and almost as achy as Harry was.

"Um." Harry cleared her throat awkwardly. "Can we go back to the beginning, please?" She asked, feeling a bit foolish. No one else she knew was so dependent on their instincts! If Hermione had been here, she would be berating Harry for giving into her 'baser' Omega traits.

...No, actually, if Hermione had been here, she would be focused on other things. Like the two very handsome, very _naked_ Alphas in her bed.

Harry could admit to some distraction on her own part about that, too, but shook her head to clear her thoughts. There were more important things to contemplate. Like this 'Sky' business. She had no idea what it meant, but she _knew_ it was important.

Reborn grabbed one of the pillows that had been pushed out to the edge of the bed and tucked it under his head and made himself comfortable while he thought about how to start.

Harry waited patiently, grabbing another pillow -which had somehow ended up at the foot of the bed- and handed it to Colonello.

"Have you ever heard of Dying Will Flames?" Reborn asked in a calm, even voice, reaching out to rest one hand on Harry's knee. As if not touching her for too long was physically uncomfortable.

Not that Harry disagreed; touching was _very_ nice.

"No." She shook her head, relaxing a little when Reborn's hand began to rub back and forth, a little ways down her thigh before returning to her knee in a soothing, repetitive manner.

Colonello frowned. "You're Active, though, cora. I can't believe I didn't realise before now."

"Harry, have you ever done anything, been in a situation where unexplained fire was involved?" Reborn asked, shooting Colonello a quelling look before focusing fully on the woman sitting between them.

Harry gave a slow blink, wondering if Reborn knew just what he was asking her. She couldn't even count how many situations she'd been in where there was what most muggles would describe as _unexplained_ fire!

Let's see, there was dragon fire, Fiend Fyre, any fire that you conjured, really, The Goblet of Fire, her wand almost setting Voldemort on fire on its own. She could go on, but there was no point. At her puzzled look, Reborn elaborated with slight amusement.

"I mean, have you ever found yourself setting anything on fire with your bare hands? Had flames licking your skin without feeling any pain?"

That narrowed it down, didn't it, Harry mused dryly, setting her mind to it.

"I think..." She began slowly. "There was an incident when I was eleven." She frowned thoughtfully, missing the way the two men tensed slightly. "I k- I burned a man's skin with my hands." She said, focusing back on the present with a mental shudder.

She had always thought there was something _wrong_ with the way Quirrell had died. No, the way she had _killed him_.

There was a distinct difference.

"You-" Colonello bit back whatever words he had intended to say. "You became Flame Active at _eleven_?"

"If you could come around to telling me what Flame Active actually means, I might be able to answer that." Harry huffed with wry amusement.

"I'll show you." Reborn said, lifting his hand off her knee and holding it up between them. A moment later, soft yellow flames flickered to life at the tips of his fingers.

Harry stared at them, transfixed.

She wouldn't have been able to stop herself from touching them even if she had been consciously aware of reaching for them.

Reborn's whole arm twitched in an aborted attempt to yank it away from her, alarm plain on his face as he watched Harry with horror-filled awe.

"You-" He exhaled heavily, sounding a bit shaky. "Do you have _any_ idea how dangerous that is?" He asked quietly, making Harry look up from where she was swiping her fingers through the flames sprouting from Reborn's skin.

"No. Because you're not telling me anything." She replied calmly. It wasn't like anything had happened, and touching the fire made her feel calm, warm and at peace. As if everything was right with the world. "Can you do this as well?" She turned to Colonello expectantly.

The wide-eyed blonde glanced hesitantly at Reborn before giving a cautious nod, holding out his own hand towards Harry.

The fire that flickered to life in Colonello's palm was bright blue, making Harry think of the bluebell fire Hermione had learned how to conjure early on at Hogwarts.

Dipping the fingers of her other hand into the blue fire, Harry marvelled at the different... _texture_ , was the closest appropriate word she could think of.

Colonello's fire felt more like a liquid than Reborn's did, and it was... soothing. Relaxing. Comforting.

"Harry?"

Harry blinked her eyes open, wondering when she had closed them, only to realise that both Alphas were sitting up and were staring at her with varying levels of -visible- concern.

Reborn was cupping her face with a concentrated look in his eyes while Colonello looked guilty and worried.

"How are you feeling, cora? I'm so sorry." He rushed out, watching Harry like he was afraid she'd be angry with him.

Harry took a deep, satisfied breath. "Just felt really good." She smiled languidly, making the two males slowly relax again.

"Don't do that again, woman." Reborn sighed, pulling a hand through his hair. "I thought you'd fallen unconscious."

"Why?" Harry blinked confusedly. Sure, the blue fire was relaxing, but not _that_ much.

"The colour of your Flame indicates what abilities they have." The dark haired man began to explain, slowly leaning back down again, not taking his eyes off of Harry's. "Yellow, like mine, means Activation, which is the property of a Sun Flame."

"You're a Sun." Harry murmured, frowning in thought. It felt like the words resonated with something inside her, as if she was remembering something from long ago.

She wasn't, of course; Harry would have remembered if someone had told her all of this already.

"Yes, I'm a Sun. _Your_ Sun, I think it's safe to say." Reborn snorted and glanced down at Harry's hand, which didn't show a single mark after having had direct contact with his raw Dying Will Flame. "Activation means basically what it sounds like. Flames are limited more by lack of imagination than anything else. Sun Flames are, at their base, used for Healing."

Harry blinked. "That's what you were doing." She said with surprise, pressing one of her hands over the curse scar on her chest.

Reborn shrugged and nearly scowled at the ugly scar. "I couldn't do much, actually, but at least I could ease the healing of the tissues around it."

"It's still more than anyone else has been able to do." Harry smiled sadly, tracing the injury. "What does blue fire mean? It made me feel really calm." She smiled encouragingly at Colonello, who still looked a bit pale.

"'Blue fire' means Rain Flames." Reborn continued, looking like he was willing to let the previous subject go for now, but clearly hadn't forgotten it. "Rain Flames have the property of Tranquillity, which can mean anything from freezing water to putting someone in a coma." He said with a pointed look.

Harry sighed. "Right." She wasn't going to apologize, though. "What does this have to do with me being a 'Sky'?"

"A Sky, someone possessing Sky Flames, which are the rarest Flames type," Reborn paused slightly, "has the ability of Harmonization."

Harry cocked her head curiously. The way he had said that made it sound weighty, important in a way she couldn't yet understand.

"A Sky pulls in the other Elements, to their sky, gives them a home." Colonello said quietly.

Harry felt a cold shiver run down her spine. "Pulls?" She asked faintly.

"It's in your nature, cora." The blonde Alpha shrugged, before Reborn reached over to smack him on the head with a glare.

"You're making it worse. Stop talking." He ordered, before turning back to Harry with soft eyes. "It doesn't mean you forced us to you, Harry."

Harry dragged a hand through her hair and stared at him with growing dread. Did this mean she had some sort of Veela-like ability? Did the two Alphas not know she had them under her sway? Could she break it now that she was aware of it?

She must have said that last question out loud, because both men sat up so quickly Harry almost jumped out of her skin.

"NO!" They exclaimed in unison, looking frantic enough that Harry froze.

"It's not- Harmonizing doesn't take away our wills." Reborn hurriedly explained in a strained voice, seemingly unable to stop himself from taking Harry's hand and braiding their fingers together in a firm hold. "Elements are looking for a Sky just as much -it's equal- as a Sky is looking for Elements. It's give and take, Harry." He stared at her, as if wanting to force the knowledge into her brain. "The Elements protect their Sky, because Skies are rare and loved and coveted by so many people, because the Sky gives you a _Home_. Somewhere to belong. Unconditionally."

"Okay." Harry breathed after a long, tense silence. "So why me? Why haven't the two of you found a Sky before now?" She asked with a troubled frown.

Reborn and Colonello shared a look Harry couldn't even begin to decipher.

"There is more to Flames than I could tell you in a day." Reborn muttered. "But things like Flame strength and purity play a big part as well. A strong Sky won't be all that interested in weaker Elements, and a weak Sky trying to pull in a stronger Element wouldn't be able to do anything even if the Element showed any interest." He said quietly. "You have to match for proper, true Harmonization to be possible."

"And we do? Match, I mean?" Harry asked, trying to understand.

"Yes." Reborn breathed, pulling her into a tight hug and closing his eyes.

"This is very nice and you're welcome to do it more often, but why do I get the feeling that there's more?" Harry spoke up after a few seconds, her own arms tight around Reborn's middle.

Reborn reluctantly let her go and slowly leaned back to lie down on the bed again.

"Reborn and I are," Colonello began. "a bit stronger than your average Flame user, cora." He confessed. Harry suspected she knew where this was going, but remained silent. "There have been a few Skies that have tried to draw me in over the years, but." He shrugged. "I was always too strong, with too pure Flames."

"I didn't think I'd ever meet a Sky strong enough to be able to accept me." Reborn said, and Harry could practically _feel_ the echoes of his past pain clawing at her insides.

No, wait, she _could_ feel it.

Her eyes widened and she pressed a hand back to her chest, staring at Reborn with speechless shock.

"I can- Weaker Skies trying to draw you in... is it painful?" She asked faintly, feeling a little light-headed.

"It can be, depending on how forceful they're being." Colonello admitted with a slight grimace.

"People have been trying to-" Harry's voice devolved into a growl at the thought. "How often? How _dare they_ -!?" She took a deep, calming breath in an attempt to soothe her sudden rage. How could anyone try and subject another to something like what the two of them were describing by _force_?!

Breathing deeply and closing her eyes, Harry let herself fall face-first into the mattress, grabbing her Alphas and just- pulling them closer and wishing she could wrap herself around them.

"Oh." Colonello's breathless voice said from beside her, sounding stunned.

Harry lifted her head and stared at him, but there was a distant, distracted look in his eyes that made her think he was focusing on something other than the physical world. Turning to look at Reborn showed an equally dazed look in his eyes.

"How can you do that and still not know what Flames are, cora?" Colonello finally groaned, rolling onto his side, slinging an arm around Harry and burying his face in her hair.

"Do what?" Harry asked, turning to look expectantly at Reborn, who she could actually see properly. The man was eyeing Colonello with some distaste, but if that was because he disapproved of his actions or merely resented him for doing it first, Harry had no idea.

"You've basically filled this entire room with your Flames." Reborn told her, sounding like he fully approved and wanted her to do it more often. Harry blinked and looked around; she couldn't see anything, not a hint of fire anywhere. "Not the physical manifestation we showed you earlier." He corrected himself with an amused smile. "More like... the essence of your Flame?" He mused, shifting so that he was lying closer to Harry and could shove Colonello until he left enough room for both of them to wrap themselves around her.

"You both like it?" Harry asked uncertainly. After a very firm 'Yes' from both of them, Harry frowned with concentration and thought about what she had -supposedly- done. She had just wanted to be able to- oh.

Harry's expression smoothed out and she could finally feel it. As if there was a faint sensation, a sixth sense she hadn't really been consciously aware of being there before but had been using to guide her actions nonetheless.

There was a part of her, somehow, that felt like it was stretching outside of her body, and with some focus, Harry managed to curl it around her two Alphas. Her Sun and Rain?

The sounds of delighted contentment they produced in response was something Harry was determined to hear more of in the future.

.

Some hours had passed since their morning conversation and lunch had rolled around.

Harry had called room-service for a lot of well-needed food, since none of them had eaten anything in nearly three days.

She had wanted to open the door and bring the food in when the hotel personnel brought it up, but both of her Alphas had bristled aggressively when she had tried, so Harry stayed put with Colonello in the bed while Reborn grabbed a hotel bathrobe from the bathroom and went to get their lunch.

After Harry had filled her stomach -the first time, she knew the drill by now- she got off the bed and stood to her feet, still as naked as the day she'd been born. After the last three days, she figured that she would never again be self-conscious around either Reborn or Colonello.

"I need a shower." She declared, fixing the two Alphas with a firm, stern look. "Alone."

Colonello visibly sagged with disappointment and Reborn smirked with slight amusement even as his eyes trailed down her body and Harry scowled half-heartedly at him.

She felt crusty in places and it was icky. She hadn't minded much at first, mostly because of the post-heat languid delight, but right now, she just felt... kind of disgusting.

Without another word, Harry strode into the bathroom, shut the door behind her -and she could practically hear Colonello's mournful sigh- and then stepped into the shower.

The water was blessedly warm and when she stepped out of it, squeaky clean, Harry felt so much more content.

Her skin was no longer itching with dried... fluids.

She grimaced at the thought.

Walking back into the bedroom, Harry wrinkled her nose and herded the two Alphas into the bathroom so that she could clean up.

When she was sure Reborn and Colonello were otherwise occupied, she had to look a short while before she found her wand -and how long had it been since _that_ had happened?- and then used it to magically make the place more habitable.

Then, after a quick _scourgify,_ she rang up the reception desk and requested fresh sheets to be brought up to her room, ignoring the fact that pretty much everyone who worked at this hotel would have figured out _why_ by now, and then tidied up around the place and ate more food while she waited the few minutes until there was a knock on the door.

"Thank you." She accepted the bedclothes from a blushing Omega in a crisp, professional uniform.

Harry, having hastily pulled on the bathrobe that Reborn had used earlier, felt slightly underdressed but was so far beyond caring she just gave the woman a wry smile and thanked her for her help.

When she got back to the bedroom, Reborn seemed to be done with his wash and was in the process of removing the less than stellar sheets -even after her cleaning spells they could do with a good wash or two. Harry put the clean ones on one of the bedside tables and helped him remove the last of it.

"Here." She threw him one end of the sheets and they put them on the mattress together. Harry then threw him the pillow covers and took care of the duvet covers herself. "There! Much better!" She looked over their handiwork with a satisfied smile.

Reborn walked leisurely around the bed until he was standing behind her, reaching around her to untie the robe covering her. Harry craned her neck to pull him into a kiss, not minding at all when he pulled the robe off her shoulders so that it fell to the floor around her feet.

When Colonello strolled out of the bathroom, he eyed them thoughtfully a moment before he went through the piles of clothes Harry had gathered, one for him and one for Reborn to pull on his boxers and then lied down on the bed.

"Does it make it a gay experience when this is turning me on, cora?" Colonello asked idly, watching Harry and Reborn hardly without blinking.

Harry broke off their deep, unhurried kiss to laugh breathlessly into Reborn's chest.

Reborn sighed, but merely tightened his arms around her and then picked her up and deposited her on the bed.

Harry snorted but slipped under the covers and shuffled over to Colonello's side, resting her head on his chest.

Reborn followed until his side was pressing against her back, a solid, warm presence that made her feel pleasantly safe and content.

"Here." Reborn said, making Harry twist around to look at him and then shuffle around until she was sitting properly with her back against the headboard to accept the plate the man handed her. "You should eat some more." He said, looking her over with well-hidden concern.

Harry rolled her eyes but obligingly cleared the plate with surprising ease.

When it was empty, Reborn reclaimed it, just to lean down and stack it with the other plates on the tray on the floor next to the bed.

"Now, to return to a subject I feel we need to discuss." Reborn said, settling back into a comfortable position. He eyed Harry a moment, before raising a hand to her chest to splay his palm over her heart, and the scar. "How did this happen?"

Harry gave a slow blink, feeling a bit too tired to be able to think up anything other than the truth.

"I'd have to be Mated with you to be allowed to tell you." She murmured, feeling more tired by the second, as if the burst of energy she'd enjoyed earlier had come to a very abrupt and definite end and her body demanded sleep now.

"Another subject I want us to speak more about, cora." Colonello joined the conversation, taking one of Harry's hands. "How often, on average, do you go into heat?" He asked with an earnest expression that made Harry let out a strange groan-laugh and twist her body around until she could bury her face in her pillow.

Once she had calmed herself a bit again, she looked up to see Reborn and Colonello staring expectantly at her.

"I've, ah, had about two a year, but," She frowned, biting her lower lip uncertainly. "I have no idea when my next heat will be." She admitted with a sigh. She wasn't prepared for the questions, for all that she was expecting them.

Colonello looked confused, while Reborn seemed like he was trying to figure out where she was going with this.

"It's why you didn't expect this heat at all." He said, and it wasn't a question.

Harry nodded anyway. "I hadn't had a heat in almost a year." She said quietly, relaxing back against the bed.

"Have you been sick?" Reborn asked worriedly, one of his hands migrating towards her forehead as if of its own volition.

"No." Harry closed her eyes. "I was... given something to force a heat almost a year ago and it," She shrugged slightly, "left me out of balance."

The two Alphas went so still it felt like they were barely breathing and Harry opened her eyes to study their frozen forms.

Reborn abruptly sat up with a deep growl, placing both his hands on her, one on her stomach, the other on her chest and she could feel his Flames heat her skin as they passed into her body.

Harry sighed, but didn't try to stop him. If his Flame type meant he was a natural healer, then he'd need to see for himself.

Colonello looked like he had snapped out of his own shock, but hadn't moved a muscle other than to watch her intently, most likely to make sure he wouldn't disturb the Sun.

"My doctor has long since made sure there weren't any serious, lasting effects." She eventually said into the tense silence, and Reborn's gaze briefly flicked to her face, before he slowly withdrew his Flames.

He didn't say anything, which Harry took to mean he hadn't found anything wrong, but he wasn't apologizing either.

Harry hadn't expected him to.

"Who?" Colonello growled, his voice rough and near-feral.

Harry eyed him and made sure to release more pheromones into the air around them, to help the two Alphas relax. She was here, she was safe, it had happened months ago.

"A relative of mine, actually." She said vaguely. "A distant one." Harry added at the bloodlust in the two men's eyes. "She's also been dead a while, now."

"Don't know if I should be happy the bitch is dead, or irritated that I don't get to kill her myself, cora." Colonello grumbled, scooting down so that he could press his face against Harry's shoulder without jostling her.

"Why?" Reborn asked softly, his eyes not leaving her face for a second.

Harry threaded her fingers through Colonello's hair, scowling in thought as she thought back. She didn't want to talk about this, but she couldn't see any way to get out of it without straining the moment almost beyond repair.

And Harry didn't want to ruin this more than she absolutely had to.

"She wanted me to tell her something."

Colonello growled again while Reborn paled with fury. "Tell me, where there any Alphas present when she _forced you into heat_?" He asked, dark eyes fixed on her, voice low and soft and so dangerous it sent a shiver down her spine.

She wasn't afraid of him, though.

Harry met his gaze with a blank one of her own. She didn't think she had to answer, because she could see him come to his own conclusions.

"You were-" Colonello cut the sentence off harshly, as if he couldn't bring himself to even _think_ it, not to mention speak it, and instead pressed his mouth to her skin, jaw clenching.

"No." Harry answered quietly, tugging lightly at the blonde's hair. "I wasn't."

"But you _could've_ , cora." He insisted, voice muffled against her shoulder as he gritted his teeth in an attempt to control his temper.

"How long ago did this happen exactly, Harry?" Reborn asked with sudden concern.

"Last Easter."

"Did we do this too soon?" Reborn asked, frowning slightly as he looked at her. "We could have waited."

Harry shook her head. "I wanted to." She said, before adding seriously. "I'm not afraid of you, Reborn. Colonello." She glanced down at the blonde, who had wrapped his arms around her hips, before turning back to Reborn.

"Perhaps you should be." Was his pensive answer. "There's a lot of things about us, about me that you don't know."

"As if you know all there is to know about me." Harry scoffed, thinking about all the things she'd intentionally failed to tell them derisively.

For a few minutes, the silence in the room was heavy and suffocating, until Harry sighed heavily.

"Were you serious about wanting to Mate?"

"Yes." Reborn responded immediately, no hesitation in his voice. Colonello nodded when she glanced down at him, his blue eyes peering up at her attentively.

"Then we will talk before that. There are things you should know before..." Harry trailed off tiredly. "But right now, I just want to sleep." She added with a heavy exhalation that wasn't quite a sigh.

Eyes slipping closed, Harry blindly reached for Reborn and pulled him into a quick, affectionate kiss and then snuggled down with her two men for some well-needed rest.

-x-x-x-


	10. Chapter 10

**I think, tentatively optimistically, that if I haven't been burned at the stake yet, then I'm safe! To quote Ghiro, you are all my firefighters! Saving me from Flames~ ;)**

 **Yeah, the people reading this story are awesome. You're all amazing. Have another chapter!**

 **Hold Your Head High**

 **Chapter 10**

The first thing Harry did once she felt ready to leave her rooms was to check out of the hotel they had been staying at to find a new one.

She wasn't appreciating all the looks she was getting by the staff.

Reborn and Colonello mostly didn't care either way what they did, but Colonello had been bristling a bit around the few Alpha employees who had been eyeing Harry with too much lewd interest for his tastes.

(Reborn's self-control was too good for him to show any visible reaction, but the smirk he gave upon their departure was sharp enough to cut with.)

They spent a few more days in Rome, before Harry suggested they move on to some place else. The Vatican had been interesting, but Harry preferred to keep it at a distance. Because of the whole witch thing.

After some discussion, they ended up going to the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, but which was really part of Spain.

Harry had never been, even though she was fairly sure the Dursleys had. Vernon had always talked enough about it; one of his favourite pastimes had been to bring up how much of a burden Harry was and all the things they _could_ have done if only she hadn't been there.

It felt very... touristy.

Which just meant that Harry, Reborn and Colonello blended right in, despite the two rather memorable Alphas.

(It was hypocritical of her, but Harry wasn't even aware of how oblivious she was to her own looks.)

The receptionist stared a bit at check in, but Harry determinedly ignored it as she lead the two men to their room.

They were sharing now. Harry loved it.

Curling up to sleep with the both of them next to her each night was something she hoped she'd never get used to. She hadn't had so few nightmares in... years.

"Want to go down to the pool?" Colonello asked excitedly once they had checked out their room and unpacked a few things.

Harry froze. This was one aspect that she hadn't anticipated. Stupid, really, considering what _most_ people did on this island -what they came here for- but it had entirely slipped her mind.

Reborn and Colonello were a bad influence on her, she decided dryly. She hardly remembered all her scars when she was with them.

"Let's get you out of those jeans." Reborn smirked, the utter hypocrite. He was still wearing his suit!

"Fine." Harry said, leaning her hip against the small kitchenette counter, crossing her arms in front of her chest with a challenging expression. "You ditch your suits for our whole stay, you might get to see me in a bikini."

Reborn shrugged languidly, as if he had seen this coming.

"I wasn't planning to dress like this the entire stay." He pointed out with a slow grin. "I _do_ own other types of clothes."

"I don't believe you, cora." Colonello instantly refuted. "I've never seen you in anything other than a suit that wasn't a costume of some sort."

"I take offence to that." Reborn scowled without any real heat.

Harry snorted at the both of them and stepped away from the counter with a quick stretch. "Well, I don't really have any clothes that are appropriate for this climate with me, so if you want to see more skin when we're not ensconced in our rooms, we're gonna have to hit the shops."

"Then what are we waiting for, cora!" Colonello -the only one in shorts and a t-shirt- grabbed Harry's hand and towed her to the door, leaving Reborn to stroll after them.

.

"You're being ridiculous." Harry said for the third time as they walked into _yet another_ high-end, expensive brand name store on Reborn's urging.

"Don't bother; Reborn's a complete fashionista." Colonello commented idly from where he was standing next to Harry, looking bored.

Reborn shot him a dark look, before he turned back to the rack of clothes her was currently inspecting.

Harry sighed and began to look for a chair or somewhere to sit. Once she had located one a small distance away, she dragged Colonello with her, urged him to sit down and then placed herself in his lap.

The man's arms automatically came up around her to steady her, a soft, pleased rumble leaving his chest.

Harry smiled and leaned back to watch Reborn stalk around the store like he owned the place, disregarding employees and other shoppers equally to get the few things he wanted.

At least he wasn't slow and it was always entertaining to see the staff trail after him helplessly before they realised that Reborn wasn't listening to any of their suggestions and actually knew more about the store they were working in than they did.

"I got a few things for you too, Harry." Reborn said once he was done, having swept through the store like a very controlled hurricane.

Harry sighed. "For the last time, I don't need you to buy me stuff."

Reborn smirked. "So you've told me."

She rolled her eyes, let him help her to her feet and then the three of them all left for their next stop. Harry just hoped it wasn't yet another store; she wanted to eat sometime before the next century.

.

The next day, Harry got up bright and early, leaving Reborn and Colonello in the bed to sleep a while longer, as had become the norm for them fairly quickly.

Despite what you might think, both men were surprisingly docile in the mornings.

It also made an incredible sight to see the two Alphas sleeping next to the other, often facing each other -previously facing Harry- and the first few times they'd woken up like that, had kicked the other out of bed on pure reflex.

That had been mostly Reborn, though. And it might have been deliberate; it was hard to tell for sure and Harry didn't care all that much as long as they didn't seriously injure and or hurt each other.

Her first stop was the kitchenette, where she prepared a plate with various fruits Harry had bought the previous day before returning from their shopping trip.

Mango, Papaya, pineapple and dragon fruit made for an interesting selection. She'd had to ask the vendors how to properly cut a few of them, but it wasn't much of a hassle.

Then, she took her plate of goodies and sat down on the floor in front of her pile -much larger than it would have been if she'd been shopping on her own- of new clothes and began to poke through it.

Harry absently decided to never go shopping with Reborn and Ginny at the same time. It would be devastating.

Digging out one of the bikinis she'd gotten, one she'd picked out herself, and two Reborn had... supplied her, Harry eyed the flimsy thing with consideration.

The one Harry had bought was plain black, but this one was a pale green that made her think of the ocean and actually matched her eyes.

With a shrug, Harry picked up a pair of shorts and an airy shirt as well and then got up to dress.

The plate was deposited in the sink on her way to the bathroom.

When she stepped out of the hotel room, Harry was wearing the bikini underneath a pair of deep blue shorts and a white, almost see through blouse that was long enough to very nearly cover the shorts completely.

Walking down the corridor to the elevator, Harry tied her hair up into a practical tail high on the back of her head.

She hadn't quite known what to do with her wand, but before she'd left Britain, George had gifted her with a holster steeped in enough magic to make it damn near sentient. It was protected against most things, of which water most certainly was one, and you could tie it wherever you wished on your body and it would adapt to fit you like a glove.

Today, Harry had chosen to tie it around one of her ankles, where it would look like nothing more than a leather ankle chain to any muggle.

The elevator dinged once it reached the ground floor and Harry stepped out with a smile and a bounce in her step, stopping by the reception desk on her way outside.

"Excuse me, do you have any towels I could borrow?" She asked one of the polite women working there this morning and was soon walking into the sunlight with a pair of towels tucked under one arm.

Finding an empty pool chair this early wasn't a problem, since most guests seemed content to sleep in, so Harry took one she felt was in an advantageous position, spread one of her towels over it and then laid down with a pleased sigh.

Time trickled by and as it got warmer the higher the sun climbed, the less content Harry was to stay put and rest. She'd always been energetic, and she wasn't really used to being idle for more than small stretches at a time -with some exceptions- so with a thoughtful look at the pool, Harry sat up and considered her options.

She could either head back up to the room and kick the two men out of bed, or let them sleep a while longer and go for a swim.

She wasn't a great swimmer by any means, but after the Second Task her fourth year, a swimming pool didn't seem very daunting.

Standing up from her sun chair, Harry stretched and pulled her blouse over her head and dropped it on the chair, before unbuttoning her shorts and stepping out of them. Tossing them on top of the shirt, she very determinedly didn't feel self-conscious as she walked the short distance to the water's edge.

There were more people down here now than when she had gotten here, but not a crowd by any stretch of the imagination.

Harry stood beside the pool a few seconds, toes curling over the edge, before she grinned and jumped into the water with a quick laugh.

A year ago, two years ago, she never would have been able to imagine that this was where she'd be; canon-balling into a pool on a tropical island resort.

Breaking the surface to suck down a large breath of air, Harry pushed a few errant locks of hair out of her face and looked around.

She could easily reach the bottom, but took a few tentative breast strokes, satisfied when she moved through the water well enough and then dove back under the surface to try the same thing there.

The water stung her eyes a little, but not too badly. It wasn't the same as when she'd used the Gillyweed; quite obviously, since she didn't have gills or webbed fingers and toes.

Harry placed her feet against the pool wall and pushed off, sending herself gliding through the water in towards the middle of the pool.

She amused herself similarly, practising her swimming, for the next half hour or so, before she came up for another breath of air and caught a familiar sight out of the corner of her eye.

Colonello had just stepped out of the hotel doors and was scanning the pool area, Reborn no doubt just behind him.

Half-walking, half-swimming back to the edge she had jumped in from, Harry pulled herself back onto dry land and stood up to wave at him.

"Hey! You're finally awake!" Harry grinned, meeting him halfway with a very wet hug, which Colonello didn't seem to mind at all.

"Having fun?" He asked, gaze sweeping over the rest of the guests parked around the area, some whose eyes had followed Harry's progress from the water. "You look fucking hot, cora." He added, tightening his arms around her possessively.

"Thank you." She said with just a small amount of embarrassment before she moved on; her two Alphas had been telling her similar things often enough that she was beginning to get used to it, "You were the ones wanting to put me in a bikini to begin with." Harry felt perfectly justified pointing out.

Colonello growled playfully, before picking her up off her feet with irritating ease. Shortly after, he threw her back into the pool.

Harry emerged a second later, spluttering. "What was that for?" She demanded with a laugh, pushing her hair out of her face to mock-glare at him. Then she took in what he was actually wearing. Or not wearing, as the case may be.

The man was dressed in nothing more than a pair of cheerfully blue bathing shorts that were riding low on his hips and ended just above his knees.

No shirt.

"You're purring again." Reborn said with an entertained expression when he came close enough, eyeing Harry appreciatively where she stood with the water lapping her chest.

"I do not purr." Harry rolled her eyes and made her way back to the pool edge. Again. "If anyone here is a large cat, it's _you_." She said, taking a seat on the sun chair she had claimed some while ago, picking up the second towel to wipe herself semi-dry.

As if to prove her point, Reborn stretched out on the chair next to hers, like a tiger lying down for a nap in the sun.

He was wearing dark grey bathing shorts and a white shirt he hadn't bothered to button. Which meant she had an excellent view of his chest and abdomen.

Nice.

Harry leaned back on her hands with a happy sigh; her Alphas were the best.

"You really have to stop sneaking off when we're sleeping, Harry." Colonello said, somehow managing to sit down behind her without pushing her off the chair, his legs on either side of her and arms wrapping around her waist almost automatically. "It's always just as disappointing, cora."

"I can't help it you sleep so long." Harry smiled, leaning the back of her head against Colonello's warm shoulder.

"I can get up early when I have to." Reborn said without opening his eyes. "I just prefer not to when I have an option."

"Big cat." Harry told him impishly, making him snort.

They spent a few peaceful minutes just enjoying the sunshine, before Colonello picked her up again, slung her over one shoulder, like a caveman, and leapt into the water with a whoop of joy.

Harry pushed away from him and emerged from the water spluttering with laughter. "You brute!" She cried, giving him a face-full of water with a splash of her hand.

His challenging grin made her shriek with mock fear and hurry away from him, splashing more water in his general direction before the man could begin his counter attack.

"Play nice, children." Reborn drawled from where he was watching them, hands folded behind his neck to support his head, a slow smirk spreading across his lips.

Harry and Colonello exchanged a quick look, before both focusing their efforts on getting Reborn as wet as possible without leaving the pool.

"Very mature." A dripping wet Reborn deadpanned a minute later, his words accompanied by Harry's ringing laughter.

"There's only really one solution, I'm afraid." She told him, folding her arms on the pool edge and resting her chin on them as she stared up at him with large, sparkling eyes. "You're gonna have to get out of that shirt and join us in the water."

"I was perfectly happy here."

"Liar." Harry grinned, kicking off of the wall and out into the deeper water, beckoning Reborn to follow. "Don't you know? Big cats love water."

"Come on, Reborn! Don't be such an old man, cora!" Colonello grinned teasingly.

Reborn sighed exasperatedly. "I am two years older than you, Colonello."

"Long, those two years."

Harry snorted into the pool water and then had to scramble away when Reborn jumped into the water after her and Colonello with an amused, predatory look in his dark eyes.

She was caught quickly, Reborn lifting her up, out of the water only to throw her away with a laugh.

Harry took a deep breath before she went under. Blinking in the water, she looked around and then swam back towards Reborn's dark grey swim shorts.

His hands came down to catch her once she was close enough, just to bring her up and press a kiss to her wet face.

"You have an interesting swim style." He said once they had broken apart due to a veritable waterfall cascading down on their heads courtesy of Colonello.

Harry shrugged, splashing Colonello right back. "I never learned how to do it properly."

Reborn's arms wound around her in a tight embrace. "Want me to teach you?" He murmured in her ear.

"Sure." Harry smiled, patting one of his forearms. "But I suspect you're gonna have to let me go for that to be possible, love." She said, her voice ending on a mock-condescending note that made the man chuckle and press a kiss to her hair.

"As you say." He smirked and then pushed her face-first into the water.

.

That evening, after they had retreated to their room after an extravagant dinner Reborn had insisted on, they were lying in bed.

Colonello was lying on his back, Harry's head resting on his chest, while Reborn lay on her other side on his stomach, supported on one of his elbows and playing with one of her hands.

"Harry." He began, tracing the lines of her palm with one finger. "Why haven't you had a great freak-out about Flames yet?" He asked casually, letting his fingers trail down the inside of her forearm.

"Hm?" Harry hummed questioningly, making an effort to rouse herself fully awake again.

Then his words finally registered and Harry could do nothing more than blink as she met the man's serious gaze.

Right. A normal person would have probably had something of a panic attack about this supernatural power in the shape of fire some people were apparently capable of producing... Crap.

Oh well. It's not like she wouldn't have been forced to tell them sooner or later.

"You know how I told you that I wasn't allowed to tell you about my scar before we were Mated?" Harry began, touching her free hand to her chest. Both men nodded. "This has to do with that."

"So you won't tell us until after we've officially Mated?" Colonello asked, his voice rumbling through his chest.

And Harry might have melted a little at that 'officially', because that meant he already considered it done. Much like she found herself doing.

"No." Harry sighed. "I think I'll take a chance and just tell you." She paused. She wouldn't want to dump _everything_ on them after, either, when it would hurt so much more if they... didn't like what she had to say.

She sat up and turned to face them, Reborn following suit. He sat with his back against the headboard, nudging Colonello until the blonde joined him.

"I know that there are a _lot_ of things unsaid between us." She began. "On both sides." Gazing at the two prompted the men to nod; it had always been an unspoken undercurrent to a lot of their conversations and Harry hadn't really minded, because there were so many things she _couldn't_ just blurt to whomever she wanted. "There's really no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna... Magic is real." She said seriously, waiting for their reactions.

Reborn was eyeing her intently, and she -for once- had no idea what was going on in that head of his. Colonello's eyes had widened a fraction, before he blurted;

"Damn. You're one of the magicals, cora."

"You know about the Magical World?" Harry questioned curiously. If they did, that would make this so much easier.

"Peripherally." Colonello waved aside, looking like he was still trying to process what this meant. "It has to do with the... kind of circles Reborn and I usually associate with through work." He grimaced slightly and glanced at his fellow Alpha, who still looked unreadable. Like a brick wall.

Harry eyed them intently for a long moment, wondering if they were having this conversation right now, but then shook her head slightly and got back to what she had wanted to say from the start.

"Anyway. After learning that magic was real when I was eleven, Flames aren't that shocking." She smiled wryly. "Soo..." She said into the following silence. "Still want to get Mated to a witch?"

"Yes." Colonello responded immediately, looking like he didn't even have to think about it. Harry turned to Reborn, who was still watching her silently.

"Reborn?"

The man let out a slow, controlled sigh and for one second, it felt like Harry's heart might stop.

"I want to Mate with you, Harry. I doubt there's anything you could tell me to dissuade me. You're not just the most amazing woman I have ever met, you're also my Sky." He said in a quiet rumble, taking her hand again and braiding their fingers together in a tight hold. "What I'm worried about is your reaction once you learn certain truths about myself." He added softly, gazing into her eyes.

"You don't have to tell me anything you're not comfortable with." Harry said.

Reborn looked pained by her words instead of reassured.

"You say that now-" He began, but Harry interrupted him.

"I already know you two are far more dangerous than you act most of the time. I have known that from the start." She said frankly, tucking one lock of hair behind her ear. "I don't mind. In fact, I think it's a good thing, considering what my life's been like up 'til recently."

"'Til recently?" Colonello questioned.

"I don't know if you've been aware, but Magical Britain was up to their neck in civil war until just about a year ago." Harry told them seriously.

"The terrorist attacks, cora?"

"Were terrorist attacks." She nodded. "Just not from any non-magical faction."

"You fought." Reborn said, his voice ending in a near-hiss. It was a statement, not a question.

"I didn't have much of a choice." Harry smiled humourlessly. She absently wondered what Voldemort and his Death Eaters would have done if Harry had said she would sit it out. "I'm a Half-Blood; not high on Voldemort's favourite persons' list." She shrugged. Not to mention the whole Undesirable Nr. 1 thing.

"Half-Blood?" Reborn repeated, and there was a quiet note of anger in his voice now.

Colonello scowled.

"It means that my mother was a muggleborn; a witch born to non-magical parents." She explained. "It doesn't really mean anything other than the fact that your parents don't have magic, but there are people, mainly Purebloods, who believe that muggle blood makes you... impure." She sneered.

"And Purebloods, cora? What does that mean?" Colonello asked with a derisive snort.

"That you can trace your magical heritage back a number of generations without any half-bloods or muggleborns to 'taint' your blood." Harry told them dryly. "My father was one, but he didn't give a crap about the whole purity thing. He wouldn't have married my mum if he did." She smiled slightly. "His family never did put much stock in it."

"Tell us about the war?" Reborn asked as he slowly sank down to lie on the bed again, not letting go of Harry's hand even a little.

"It all started long before I was even born, with a boy named Tom Riddle, orphaned son of Merope Gaunt and born in a London orphanage at the very end of 1926." Harry began her tale, relaxing into her place between the two attentive Alphas.

It didn't take long for Colonello to snatch up her other hand, playing with it as he listened.

She didn't know how long she spoke, but she did give them a general overview of the entire war, the first _and_ the second, leading up to Voldemort's permanent demise last May.

She had largely glossed over her own part in it, which she felt a bit guilty about, but... how exactly was she supposed to explain that she was basically hailed a Hero in the Wizarding World? That she could damn near do no wrong in the eyes of the public?

It was... too much. Too much to reveal at once and she didn't want to tell them, didn't want them to look at her differently afterwards, because... they were _hers_. In a way she'd never experienced before (thought Ron and Hermione came damn close) and she didn't want it to change.

"Thank you for telling us." Reborn murmured as he leaned close to kiss her temple.

Harry mumbled sleepily, feeling emotionally exhausted and worn out.

But at least her Alphas knew her better now, even if it was just a little.

.

The next few days were calm and leisurely, filled with light-hearted fun, companionable conversation and relaxation.

It was everything Harry had always imagined a vacation ought to be, and the company was excellent.

On the third day after the long conversation about the war, they were all lazing about in bed after some very satisfying sex, Harry was lying on her side next to Reborn, who was playing with her hair.

Colonello was lying next to her, and Harry was absently running her fingers up and down his arm as they all calmed back down and caught their breaths. Eventually, Harry's fingers came to rest on a set of very faint scars she had been wondering about for some time now.

Meeting Colonello's gaze, she made it clear that if he didn't want to answer, Harry would let it go and not ask again.

Reborn, having watched it all, let out a sigh and tugged gently on Harry's hair.

"I'll go get us some dinner. Let you two talk." He said as he slipped out of the bed.

Harry watched him get dressed and with one last look over his shoulder, left their rooms to hunt down something to eat. But mostly, Harry felt, leaving to give her and Colonello some privacy.

"Do you want to talk?" Harry asked, rolling over on her side to look at Colonello properly.

The man was staring at his own wrist with a conflicted expression on his handsome features. Harry let him work through it on his own, stretching out beside him.

"It's a bit complicated, but I'll try to tell you, Harry." He finally sighed.

"You've been Mated once?" Harry asked idly. She wasn't upset about it, if that was what he was worried about.

"In a way, cora." Colonello muttered, slinging an arm around her and pulling her close, as if he didn't want her to slip away from him.

Harry had no plans to do so, and gladly melted into the embrace, shifting until she could bury her nose in Colonello's shoulder and breathe in his scent.

"Tell me what happened?" She murmured against his skin.

"Her name's Lal, cora." Colonello started, and Harry tightened her arms on him in response. If the woman was still alive, then that must mean- "She's a Beta, but I wanted it to work anyway." Colonello exhaled, pressing his cheek against her hair. "We stuck together for years, and while I couldn't Mark her, I saw nothing wrong with her doing it to me, cora." He shrugged, as if aiming for casual but falling a bit short.

Biting a Beta would leave nothing more than an injury, prone to infection and serving no purpose other than pain and suffering.

"It was fine, I was happy, thought _we_ were happy, but-" He cut himself off with a tired sigh. As if he had thought about it often enough that he had worn the hurt out until it felt like an old scab. "She told me she was tired of waiting for me to lose interest the moment an Omega walked around the corner."

"I'm so sorry, Colonello." Harry said after a beat of silence, tightening her arms around him again. Had this Lal known what it meant that Colonello was willing to let her Mark him without being able to do the same? For an _Alpha_?

A small, protective growl escaped her throat despite her best efforts.

Colonello chuckled weakly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "It was years ago now."

"Still." Harry muttered. "I'm sad you had to live through something like that, but, at the same time." She grimaced slightly, "I'm happy, because it means I can have you here with me like this." She admitted, feeling a little guilty.

"If there was one good thing coming out of the whole thing, cora." Colonello chuckled. "It would be you."

One of his hands come up to rest on her jaw, carefully tilting her head back so he could give her a deep, unhurried kiss that conveyed his feelings on the matter pretty well.

"It doesn't bother you?" He asked when they had broken apart, meeting her gaze with concerned blue eyes.

"This?" Harry traced the faint teeth marks on his arm with her fingers. "No. Not other than the pain you had to suffer."

"I loved her a lot." Colonello confessed, looking a little worried for her reaction, but seemingly needed to get it off his chest nonetheless.

"I know." Harry said softly, touching the Mark. She understood.

"I loved her a lot, but if I met her now, cora..." He sighed, smiling tenderly at Harry, who barely resisted the urge to kiss him again. "I wouldn't want her back. I've found my home."

"You should know, Colonello," Harry said idly, lifting her hand to cup his cheek, "that unless they want it with all their heart, I never let anyone go."

Colonello smiled, took her small hand in his and brought it to his mouth so he could kiss her palm.

"So you've said." He murmured, his heated gaze finding hers and Harry absently wondered when Reborn was coming back.

.

They were going on a hike.

Harry had never really been on one, not like what Reborn and Colonello had planned.

Ron, Hermione and Harry's mad escape around Britain last year didn't count; that hadn't been recreational and there had been the whole 'killed if caught' hanging over their heads. Walking to the Portkey before the Quidditch World Cup in '94 might have counted, but it had been comparatively short and had served another purpose than just going for a walk.

"So where are we going, exactly?" Harry asked curiously.

"Roque Nublo." Reborn answered, focused mostly on driving the car they had rented that morning.

"I see." Harry said with dry amusement. That name didn't tell her anything.

"We're gonna walk up into the mountains and see if we can introduce you to your Flames, cora!" Colonllo said from beside her. He had opted out of sitting in the front seat to sit next to her in the back.

"Really?" Harry smiled, feeling a spark of excitement light a fire under her interest. "Sounds like a plan."

"And once we've ensured our privacy, we can tell you a bit more about what Colonello and I do for a living." Reborn cut in, voice even and lacking any real inflection in a way that told Harry more about what he was feeling about it than anything else.

"You could have just told me to ward our hotel room for a few hours." Harry pointed out, more to remind them that it was a possibility in the future than for this occasion specifically. She imagined it would be difficult to train with Flames without doing any damage, so being out in the open would be preferred.

"Duly noted, boss." Reborn smirked at her in the rear-view mirror, making Harry grimace.

"Urgh. Don't call me that." She wrinkled her nose with distaste.

"Might have to get used to it, cora." Colonello grinned with part mischief, part seriousness.

Harry sighed, but saved her questions for later.

She still wasn't Reborn and Colonello's boss, though.

.

"So, we're here." Harry said on a slight sigh, collapsing down to sit on a flat rock.

Not that she was particularly tired, but the sun was beating down from above and Harry wished she had brought a hat. As It was, they had walked for maybe two hours, they had reached the very interesting rock jutting out of the ground towards the sky, and then continued walking.

"Any questions you want to ask first?" Reborn asked as he took a seat on a rock of his own, looking irritatingly unbothered by the trek and the temperature both. At least he wasn't wearing one of the suits Harry had just recently seen him without.

Harry thought about it for a moment, before she shook her head and mentioned for him to get on with it.

Colonello slumped down next to Harry, perfectly happy to sit on the dusty ground by her feet. Harry automatically wound her fingers into his hair, grounding herself. Colonello hummed happily and leaned into the touch.

"I'm going to assume that the situation you thought of during our last conversation about this was life-threatening?" Reborn began, stretching out his legs in front of him. "When you think you activated your Flames." He clarified without prompting.

"Yes." Harry nodded, perfectly capable of ignoring the low growl escaping Colonello's throat. At the long, unrelenting look Reborn fixed her with, she let out a deep sigh. "There was a man, one of my professors, actually." She reluctantly began. "He was trying to steal something that would bring Voldemort back to full power, and my friends and I... disagreed." She shrugged.

Reborn muttered something under his breath that Harry was fairly sure were curse words.

"In the end, he found himself incapable of touching my skin without serious injury to himself." She finished succinctly. "He died."

"I suppose, accounting for your young age and a stressful situation." Reborn was muttering to himself, tilting his fedora down -which he had seldom abandoned even during this trip- to shadow his eyes. "There is a possibility of your Flames keeping to your skin, burning upon contact. Especially if you had no desire to go on the offensive."

Harry tilted her head. "Sounds about right, actually." She thought some more. "Magic might have been involved to direct it, too."

Reborn nodded, accepting her words without issue. "What we're going to do is have you attempt to bring your Flame out. Hopefully in a controlled manner, but we're prepared to deal with it if it's not."

"Since you're my... what was the term? Elements?" At both men's nod, she continued. "Shouldn't my Flames be harmless to you?"

"Theoretically, cora." Colonello laughed, leaning his head against her thigh to look up at her, eyes sparkling with amusement. "But that's why it's a good thing Reborn's here! He's your Sun!"

"The Healer." Harry murmured, reassured by Reborn's firm nod. "Well, let's get started, shall we?" She smiled. "What do I do?"

"First, tell me. When you use Magic, what do you do?" Reborn asked curiously.

Harry tilted her head back as she thought it over. "It varies depending on what sort of spell you want to use." She said, flicking her hand and pulling her wand from its holster on her right forearm. "A levitation spell takes no effort and hardly a thought." She flicked it at a small rock, that drifted off the ground as if gravity suddenly didn't apply to it. "But then you have spells like the Patronus, that takes extreme effort and strength of mind, especially in a situation where it's needed the most." And Harry cancelled the levitation spell to close her eyes and focus on a happy memory. " _Expecto Patronum_." Harry whispered, opening her eyes to watch her stag burst out of her wand to gallop around them.

"Whoa." Colonello breathed as he watched the luminous stag circle them, tossing its head as if to show off his wickedly sharp horns.

"Prongs." Harry murmured as the Patronus cantered back to her, raising her hand to let him nuzzle against her fingers. "No danger here."

"What is it?" Reborn asked quietly, watching the animal seemingly made out of condensed moonlight that glowed slightly even under the midday sun.

"It's a guardian." Harry said with a small, warm smile. "A protector against one of the foulest magical beings you can ever come across."

"Do we even want to know, cora?"

Harry's smile turned brittle. "A Dementor is a being that makes you relive your worst memories. It feeds off of human misery. I was told it feeds on happy memories, but I don't think that's true." She paused, frowning slightly as she watched Prongs inspect Colonello and Reborn in turn. "They make the air cold around them, sucking all joy and happiness out of the world, making you feel like nothing is ever going to be alright again. Given half a chance, they will suck out your soul through your mouth, leaving you an empty husk of the person you were before."

Colonello shivered. "Are those things common, cora?"

"They don't breed. Not by any conventional means, but I once heard someone say that they seem to spring into being by concentrated levels of human misery and suffering."

"Sounds cheerful." Reborn commented mildly. "I take it you have experience with these things?"

"They used to guard our wizarding prison, back in Britain." Harry replied evenly. "They sided with Voldemort during the war."

"Of course they did." Reborn sighed. "But back on track, if you please."

Harry nodded, happy to leave the dark thoughts behind, even as she let Prongs fade back into nothingness and sheathed her wand.

"You're not consciously drawing on your magic?" He asked.

"No. Not really." Harry frowned slightly. "Not for the basic things, but I don't know how many magical fields work, so I couldn't really say."

"Let's go by what you know for now." Reborn murmured, and Harry thought the tilt of his mouth looked a little disapproving, if she wasn't mistaken.

"It's not like my years at Hogwarts were ideal for a studying environment." She muttered at him, making Reborn incline his head in acknowledgement.

She wasn't smart and studious like Hermione.

"Flames are not like that." He finally said, settling down for an extended explanation. Harry mentally noted down to ask him about if he had taught many people about this before. "They are representations of your soul, your life-force, your determination."

Harry tilted her head. "So physical fitness would be important." She murmured.

"Yes." Reborn agreed. "But that's something we can work on later; you're already in pretty good shape." He smirked, making Harry roll her eyes briefly. "The fact that you're Active makes things easier, because we won't have to 'unlock' your Flames." He paused here, eyeing her with a considering air. "You need determination. They're called Dying Will Flames, because the determination needed is as fierce and absolute as if you were about to die." There was a long silence as he let Harry digest that. "Regrets might help, things you'd want to get done or finish before you die, that sort of thing."

"So what is it that I focus on? Inside, I mean." Harry asked curiously.

"Your Flames are your soul; they are _you._ " Reborn said, holding out his hand towards her.

Harry reached out to clasp hands with him, closing her eyes to feel the Flames flickering to life between her fingers.

"Like I was going to die, huh." Harry murmured to herself, letting go of Reborn's hand to settle more comfortably on her stone, eyes still closed. Her lips twisted self-deprecatingly; she was familiar with the concept. She had prior experience.

"Like you were going to die." Reborn confirmed grimly.

Harry took a deep, slow breath, trying to calm down and find the fire in her soul her two Alphas insisted was there and the determination to use it.

She fell into her memories of that night with no effort at all, walking alone through the Forbidden Forest towards her death with only the ghosts of her family for company. Like the experience was just beneath the surface of her very being, constantly, and it was merely waiting for her to turn her attention to it to suck her down.

She wanted to live _so badly_ , but still she walked on. One step at a time bringing her closer to her death.

It... didn't take as much effort as Harry had been led to believe.

Sure, it took time to find that heat inside, nestled deep, deep in her centre and still keep that unforgiving determination.

 _Like I'm going to die,_ Harry thought and opened her eyes, feeling heat and a serene sense of calm wash over her.

From one moment to the next, all her troubles had been pushed to the back burner, her turbulent emotions fading and an incredible focus made the world crystal clear around her.

Upon opening her eyes, Harry met Reborn's wide, astonished ones, for once open and unguarded in a way she had never seen before.

Colonello made a small sound of undisguised awe and Harry turned to watch him, meeting his wide blue eyes with her own.

"I feel very calm." She observed evenly.

The two men made small, incredulous noises she could identify easily, but not explain the reason for. This had been the aim from the start, had it not?

"That's because you-" Reborn seemingly had to interrupt himself for a short, helpless laugh. "-you went straight into Hyper Dying Will Mode, Harry." He said with astonishment splashed unashamedly across his face.

Harry tilted her head, running through the conversations they'd had about this. "You have not mentioned it." She said with certainty.

"I didn't think it'd be a viable option for you anytime soon." The dark haired man admitted with a slowly growing smile, looking unbelievable smug for some reason. "You're certainly full of surprises, aren't you, mia cara?"

"You haven't even heard half of it, Reborn." Harry smiled serenely, before getting to her feet. "Was this all you wanted to teach me?" She asked, slowly going through stretches to get a feel for her body in this state.

"You shouldn't exert yourself too much." He cautioned, rising to his feet as well. "Hyper Dying Will Mode is very taxing on the body, especially before you're used to it."

"A quick test run, then." Harry mused. And before either of the men could stop her, Harry took off a short distance at a dead run.

It was a bit like flying, but instead of riding a broom, Harry's body was responding to her slightest thought. Like she had been born to do it, Harry ran, made a sharp stop, skidding in the loose dirt and dust, dislodging stones and small shrubbery, before she was racing back to her Elements.

"That will have to do for now." She declared once she was back, and let the Flames recede back to where they had always been, resting inside of her.

The loss was jarring.

Her limbs felt heavy, unwieldy as fatigue slammed into her with all the grace and finesse of a Bludger.

She would have fallen to the ground if there hadn't been hands there, waiting to catch her and set her down with gentle care.

One hand was brought to her forehead and Harry blinked her eyes open, wondering when she had closed them.

"Just checking you over to make sure you didn't strain anything too much." Reborn murmured as he crouched in front of her. "At least you didn't overdo it to a ridiculous degree." He added, as if to himself.

"Let's get her to do something more basic next time, cora." Colonello interjected from behind her, and oh, those were his hands holding her upright. He sounded a curious mix of slightly shaken with nerves and immeasurably smug and satisfied at the same time.

It was confusing.

"Some warning would be nice next time." Reborn agreed, removing his hand from Harry's face, luring a sound of protest from her throat. "To the hotel, I think." He smiled wryly, looking reluctantly amused as Harry blinked blearily at him.

"Bed." She agreed wearily. "Tired."

"That's what happens when you charge head-first into Hyper Dying Will Mode with no warning or preparation and damn near give your poor, poor Elements heart-attacks at the same time." Reborn told her frankly, not sounding like she'd even ruffled his feathers.

Harry squinted at him. "Liar. Drama Queen."

Colonello choked off a laugh behind her, before lifting her up and slinging her onto his back without a word of protest from Harry's mouth.

She sagged gratefully onto the man's wide, sturdy shoulders.

"She's got you pegged there, Reborn, cora!" He laughed and started walking slowly in the direction of the path they had taken to get there.

She could hear Reborn snort behind them and hid a smile against Colonello's shoulder.

.

Harry slept all through the following day and only woke up for more than a few minutes the morning after that.

Reborn provided her with more food than she knew what to do with -but somehow managed to tuck away _anyway_ \- and then sat her down for an in-depth, very detailed lecture about Dying Will Flames.

Obviously, Reborn no longer believed it would be alright to explain things as they popped up, because she'd no doubt rush headlong into something she didn't understand and blow herself up.

 _Obviously_.

Harry very carefully didn't roll her eyes and patiently endured the long-winded speech.

Reborn seemed perfectly aware of the fact that Harry just about picked up two thirds of his lecture, but seemed resigned to repeating himself.

"That way, you will at least have some clue about what the hell it is you're doing." He muttered with reluctant amusement.

"Yes, yes. I'm a hapless idiot, get it over with." Harry urged him to continue with the lecture and be done, because she didn't want to spend all day on this.

"Reborn called you an idiot, cora?" Colonello questioned as he stepped back into the room, carrying a tray laden with food. He eyed Reborn as if he was contemplating whether he ought to defend Harry's honour, or agree with him.

This time, Harry _did_ roll her eyes. "You're never going to let this go, are you?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"No." The two men chorused, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Harry sighed and leaned back against the pillow supporting her back, resigned to her fate.

About half an hour later, Reborn finished his lecture with a list of warnings about what could happen if she was reckless and stupid about it.

Harry listened intently to that bit, knowing that she'd very likely need to keep an eye out for any of the warning signs; she had something of a reputation for doing stupid and reckless things. Never mind the history for it.

"We never got to the part of the conversation yesterday that we had planned." Reborn eventually said once they had all eaten their lunch. "Would you mind showing us those wards you mentioned?"

Harry nodded and leaned over to grab her wand from the bedside table. They had mentioned something about telling her what they did for a living.

"Tell me, Harry." Colonello began after a long glance at Reborn when she had put down her wand again. "What do you know about Omerta, cora?"

She frowned. It felt like she had heard the word before, but she couldn't put her finger on where...

"I think I've heard it before, but-" She shrugged apologetically.

Reborn nodded, not looking particularly surprised. "It's similar to that Statue of Secrecy you told us about." He explained and Harry tilted her head. "You're technically not allowed to talk about it with anyone who doesn't already know."

Harry frowned. "Will you get in trouble for this?" She questioned worriedly. He had compared it to the Statue of Secrecy and _that_ was enforced by every magical government in the world.

Who enforced 'Omerta'?

"Technically." Colonello admitted. "But once we're Mated, it won't matter. The fact that you're our Sky gives even more leniency, cora."

"If the Vindice takes exception, I would be surprised." Reborn muttered darkly, looking like he was contemplating what to do if they _did_.

Not that Harry knew who, or what, the Vindice were.

"Me being your Sky makes a difference?" She questioned, feeling a surge of worry and protectiveness at the thought of the two of them in danger.

"A big one." Reborn nodded. "In our world, Skies are akin to royalty."

At Harry's horrified expression in response to _that_ revelation, Reborn's lips twitched into a smile and Colonello snorted.

"No." Harry wailed quietly, covering her face with her hands.

"My condolences, cora." Colonello patted her condescendingly on the knee, voice dripping with mock-regret.

Harry just groaned into her hands and managed to convey to Reborn that he should continue.

"In all seriousness, though." Reborn said, bringing them back to the matter at hand. "Skies are held above everyone else in our world, they are very rare and highly sought after by every single Flame Active Element."

"Why?" Harry questioned, feeling a bit tired, but mostly just wanting to find out. They had talked a bit about this before, but nothing in-depth.

"Harmonization." Colonello shrugged.

"You have no idea how precious it is to find a Sky that's willing to accept all of you, connect with you and give you a _home_." Reborn elaborated on Colonello's single word explanation. "Especially for stronger Flame Actives like me and the idiot."

"Oi." Colonello protested without any real heat.

"Okay. So Skies are rare and can connect with other Flames on a spiritual level? It that what we've done?" Harry asked, trying to make things clear, to herself if no one else.

"Proper Guardian bonds take time to fully develop, but yes, we've connected." Reborn smiled, one hand rising to rest on his own chest.

Harry tilted her head thoughtfully. "How is this relevant in relation to your professions?"

"That brings us back to Omerta." He murmured quietly. "Tell me, Harry. What do you know about the Mafia?"

Harry slowly tilted her head, studying first Reborn and Colonello intently in turn. "You're both part of the Mafia." She stated slowly, as if tasting the words and the meaning they carried.

"Yeah, cora." Colonello said, looking far more nervous than Reborn did. That didn't change the fact that she could _feel_ the tension radiating off of the both of them. Through their bond?

"Well, I don't know all that much, to be honest." Harry finally said, feeling amused, despite herself. "Would you tell me?"

Both males blinked at her for several seconds, looking silently stunned.

"We're not... part of any famiglia, though I am allied to the biggest one. I'm still working freelance, it just means I give their missions priority when they wish it, and don't take any assignments that would directly harm them." Reborn began.

"Mostly the same with me, cora. Only, I'm allied to a sort of neutral ground, where I go to train up new recruits or just hold training sessions when it's requested. Other than that, I do some freelance work, too." Colonello said, voice slightly hesitant with growing trepidation.

Harry's eyes narrowed in thought. Freelance work. What did that mean? She was probably not going to like the answer, but that didn't stop her from asking.

"What exactly does this 'freelance work' include?" She asked neutrally, giving the two men an expectant look.

Reborn didn't break eye-contact for a full minute, his dark eyes unreadable.

"I'm a Hitman. I kill people for money." He told her without inflection.

"In addition to being a training instructor, same." Colonello said, looking more anxious than when he'd told her about Lal.

Harry's insides clenched and she closed her eyes, sliding down in bed until she was vertical, with her head resting on one of the pillows.

"I'm gonna need some time to digest this." She told them honestly.

"Of course." Reborn murmured, stirring as if he was about to get off the bed and leave the room.

"Where are you going?" Harry demanded without opening her eyes. "You come here right this instant." She added, patting the bed beside her, doing the same on the other side to include Colonello.

If she let them leave right now, who knew what they'd get into their heads?

Colonello was at her side in an instance, so quickly it felt almost like he had apparated straight to her. Reborn took a bit longer, but wasn't anywhere close to dragging his feet.

With a small sigh, Harry held out her hands until the two Alphas took them, one each.

Finally feeling content enough, Harry tightened her hold on them and tried to think.

Her two Alphas apparently killed people for a living. Reborn was a professional Hitman, while Colonello supposedly just did it on the side?

How was she supposed to deal with that?

And then there was the real question; did it actually change anything?

It's not like this was a new development. The two men had presumably been working with this for _years_ , since long before Harry ever met them. They hadn't changed since they first began to spend time together.

She had already known they were dangerous, far more so than any other Alpha she had ever encountered outside the Death Eaters, and Harry was loathe to even vaguely compare them. They were dangerous, but they weren't out-of-control sociopaths who enjoyed other's pain and suffering.

Reborn and Colonello had always gone out of their way to be careful and gentle with her, to make sure she was comfortable. They weren't mindless killers like Voldemort, like Bellatrix.

"How did you end up in the Mafia?" She asked into the silence, unsure of how much time had passed.

Reborn shifted slightly beside her, his fingers tightening on hers.

"My father," he said slowly. "Was part of a minor famiglia." Harry had the feeling he hadn't ever really talked about this with anyone before, and squeezed his hand right back. "I'm unsure what exactly he did to piss more powerful people off, but he was killed, and my mother and I were left on our own." He paused. "She didn't have a job, and it felt natural for me to start running errands for local Mafiosi rather than go to school to 'learn' things I already knew." He was silent a while. "It didn't take long for them to send me on a mission they didn't think I'd come back from."

"How old were you?" Harry asked quietly. Considering his current profession, she could imagine how that mission had ended. And if they had known who his father was, there would most likely have been resentment there...

Reborn hummed. "Eleven."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes again. "I killed for the first time when I was eleven, too." She murmured pensively. "Who'd think we were so similar?"

"We're not." Reborn said in a tight voice.

Harry raised their linked hands and kissed his knuckles instead of trying to argue with him.

"I was in the military." Colonello said when it was clear Reborn would say no more on the matter. "Together with Lal; she started out as my superior officer, cora." He paused a little, most likely due to mentioning Lal and waiting to see if Harry would react badly. "We were sent on a mission together that ended badly and, well, the rest is history."

Harry hummed pensively.

"Aren't you going to say something, cora?" Colonello eventually asked, sounding more tired than anxious now. As if he had worn himself out and didn't have the energy to agonize over it any longer.

"There's not really all that much I can say." Harry mused. "It's not like it changes a whole lot between us; you are the same people I've gotten to know, the same people I met back in Firenze."

"It doesn't work like that, Harry." Reborn said, and even he sounded weary.

Harry scoffed. "Telling me how to react now, Reborn?" She asked, smiling the slightest bit. An expression that quickly died. "I have killed people and people have died as a direct result of my actions. It's not the same as killing for money, but it's not like my hands are squeaky clean." She admitted ruefully. She had cast Unforgivables on people, with little to no regret. "I have seen a lot of the darkest parts of humanity, Reborn. Colonello. I can't say I'm overjoyed over this, but it could be a lot worse. I'm most of all a bit sad your lives took such a turn." She fell silent for a moment. "But then again, if it hadn't, I doubt we'd met, and even if we did, we might not have fit so well together."

"So you're saying it's a good thing, cora?" Colonello asked, sounding amusedly incredulous.

"It _does_ sound like it, doesn't it?" Harry laughed a little. "I just know that the two of you... _fit me_. In a way no other Alphas ever have."

Reborn sighed and pushed himself up so that he could look down on her and meet her gaze.

"You are frustratingly unpredictable." He said wryly.

"You wouldn't want me any other way." Harry grinned cheekily back at him.

Colonello snorted, threw his arms around her and pulled her against his chest, pressing his face into her throat.

Reborn gave a playful growl in response, and Harry laughed.

-x-x-x-


	11. Chapter 11

**WARNING: EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT!**

 **Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Holidays! And I hope you have a Merry whatever else you may be celebrating this day/weekend! ^^ Consider this my gift to all of you! (Which includes smut, so sorry if that's not your _thing_.)**

 **Also, I can _believe_ that I've forgotten to mention this every single chapter the last few times I've posted, but... there will be no Arcobaleno curse in this story. Sorry if that upsets you. I've also had to change some ages around because of it, so. :D**

 **Hold Your Head High**

 **Chapter 11**

The next morning, Harry migrated down to the pool for some relaxing sunbathing until Reborn and Colonello woke up.

Wearing the simple black bikini she had chosen for herself, Harry leisurely stretched out on one of the sunbeds next to the pool, enjoying the sunshine.

They'd be leaving soon, but Harry wanted a few more days of simple relaxation.

It felt like the moment they left, they'd return to reality, where Harry was famous, Reborn was a professional Hitman for hire, Colonello worked with training up Mafiosi and did a few hits on the side.

That... was a lot to digest, and Harry was still working her way through all of it.

She had to suppress a frown when she thought about the fact that she hadn't even told the two that she was the bloody Witch-Who-Won. Urgh, she _hated_ that 'title'. ...or her actual role in the war.

They knew she had fought; her body spoke of it well enough on its own, but they didn't know she had been on the very top of Voldemort's kill-list.

With a deep sigh, Harry pushed her dark thoughts away, trying to focus on her nice surroundings and the sound of the ocean she could hear from just outside the hotel grounds.

"If you're bored, I can show you a good time." A male voice said, making Harry open her eyes.

"No, thank you." She replied taking a single, disinterested glance at the well-muscled Alpha that was blatantly leering at her from a few beds over.

"What's wrong? You didn't mind leading those other Alphas along the other day." He said, not looking disheartened at all. Was in fact getting to his feet and wandering over, as if Harry had invited him into her morning with a flirtatious smile.

She scowled. "That's frankly none of your business." She said firmly.

"What, upset that the two Alphas decided you weren't worth the effort when you couldn't pick one?" He smiled. "Don't worry; you won't have that problem with me."

"Are you mentally challenged?" Harry asked mildly. "I am not interested in you, I don't want to talk to you, and if you step any closer I will be very unhappy."

The Alpha scoffed, as if Harry had said something that was barely worth his attention. " _Please_. You're un-Mated, lying out here in a skimpy bikini; you're just begging Alphas like myself to give you attention."

Harry raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "If that's what you think is happening here, then you need a serious reality check." Her voice was as dry as the Sahara desert. Not that the Alpha was picking up on it.

"You seemed to like it when Alphas got handsy with you the other day; want to take a swim in the pool and see what happens?"

Harry felt her anger rise. What the hell was wrong with some Alphas? Was she wearing a sign that begged them to sexually harass her!?

"Listen, I swear, that if you try to put your hands on me, I will give you plenty of attention, but it won't be of a kind you'll find the least bit pleasant." Harry told him firmly, pushing herself up and then rising to her feet.

"Come now, no need to play hard to get." He said with a grin, taking hold of Harry's arms, as if she was a child and needed to be secured and steered with a firm but gentle hand.

Harry jerked her arms free, kneed him in the diaphragm before punching him in the face.

The Alpha keeled over like a sack of potatoes, landing sprawled on one of the sunbeds, where Harry was happy to leave him.

Good mood well and truly ruined, Harry picked up her towel and walked back to the hotel. The moment she reached the reception desk, she smiled sharply at one of the two women sitting behind it.

Oh, an Omega, how nice!

"Hello. I'd just like to inform you that the mentally challenged Alpha by the pool might be in need of medical attention." She said casually, as if she hadn't just dropped a man twice her size to the ground with minimal effort.

The Omega's gaze flicked towards the Alpha's sprawled form in clear view from their position, before returning to Harry, a slow smile growing on her face.

"Thank you." She chirped, looking inordinately pleased. "He's been bothering not just the other guests, but the Omega employees here for days." She confided in a low voice once she had made sure none of her superiors were within hearing range. Then she continued in a slightly louder and more formal tone. "I apologize for the inconvenience, is there anything we can do to make sure this incident doesn't ruin your day, ma'am?"

"I suppose you could send up some breakfast to my room." Harry mused, an answering smile stretching her lips. "Us Omegas need to look out for each other, and he was just offensive." She added, waving her hand in the direction of the pool. "Thank you, and have a nice day."

"Same to you!" The Omega called after her.

Harry grinned a little to herself as she stepped into the elevator, and then absently studied her bruised knuckles while she waited for the machine to bring her up to her floor.

When she walked into her, Reborn and Colonello's rooms, she tossed her towel into the bathroom as she walked passed it and then collapsed on top of the bed, falling across the two males.

They didn't even have the decency to grunt even a _little_ when her weight landed on them without warning.

Reborn _did_ give a sleepy growl when he caught a faint whiff of Alpha on her that belonged neither to himself, nor Colonello.

"Don't worry, I just punched a bloke." Harry told him with a smile, turning around so that she was lying on her back, head pillowed on Colonello's firm stomach and legs resting across Reborn's lower abdomen and hips.

Dark eyes cracked open a fraction to give her a drowsy glare.

Harry sighed and held up her hand for him to see the already darkening bruises blooming on her knuckles.

Reborn snatched up her hand, heat warming the sore skin before the pain faded and disappeared.

"Thank you." She said when he was done. He didn't let go of her hand, though, merely let them fall to the mattress, still linked.

Harry hummed happily when his other hand began to trace up and down her shin.

"I think I'm actually getting ready to go somewhere else after this." Harry mused out loud, slowly relaxing into a pleasantly drowsy state as Reborn languidly massaged her right leg, thumb digging deliciously into the calf muscles.

"Mm. Talk more later. Sleep." Reborn rumbled, peering blearily at her, before pulling at her hand until she was lying alongside him and he could wrap both arms around her and bury his face in her bare shoulder. She still wasn't wearing more than a bikini.

Harry damn near turned into a puddle of goo when he languidly began to lick the sun warmed skin on her shoulder and up the side of her throat.

.

The day after, they left for the southern parts of France.

Harry could honestly say that she wasn't surprised in the least to learn that both of her Alphas knew how to speak French fluently.

Reborn's offer to teach her was more of an after-thought, since he had already been in the middle of a summarized lecture about the structure of the language and had been translating what the people around them were saying for her for the last hour.

Harry indulged him with amused exasperation.

Besides, who knew when another language would come in handy?

They spent about a month travelling around the Provence country-side, taking the occasional detour into larger cities. Mainly so that Reborn and Colonello could check in with contacts and keep an ear to the ground as to what was going on in the Mafia world while they were away.

Harry didn't mind. Being cautious was a good thing.

They had spent about two days in Nice, Reborn considering if they ought to go back to Italy briefly after this to do some personal digging for more solid information on something he wasn't being too straightforward about, when Harry woke up particularly early.

Staggering into the bathroom for a nice, long shower, it took Harry a while to realise just what it was that had woken her up.

It wasn't until she emerged from the shower, wiped herself dry, dressed lightly and then looked herself in the mirror that it hit her.

Seeing her own flushed face, her slightly dazed eyes and the general aches of her body made her realise that she was about to go into heat.

Very soon.

"It wasn't even two months since the last one." She muttered to herself, trying to work herself out of the shock she had -temporarily- fallen into.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed in the bathroom, just staring at her own reflection, but it must have been quite a while, because she didn't jerk out of it until there was a quiet knock on the door.

"Harry? You've been in there for a rather long time now." Reborn said evenly. "Are you alright?"

"Um." Harry responded weakly. How was she supposed to explain this? It was far too soon!

When she didn't say anything else, Reborn opened the door and leaned against the door jamb, gaze sweeping over the interior of the bathroom and then looking over Harry with an appreciative air.

"Well? Is something wrong?" He asked, raising a eyebrow.

Harry gave him a long glance, lips twitching a little at the sight of his hair; she never had thought it possible to find someone with more unruly hair than herself, but Reborn easily had her beat.

"Not wrong, exactly." She answered slowly, turning towards the man. "I'm just about to go into heat. Again." She gave an awkward laugh. "Poppy told me my body would be out of whack for a while, but I didn't think this would happen." She mumbled to herself, dragging a hand down her face.

When she looked up again, Reborn had straightened and was staring at her with such intensity it made her shiver pleasantly.

"Your appetite was very poor yesterday." He said mildly.

Harry tilted her head. Was it?

"You should wake Colonello, so you two can eat something before it really sets in, and then we need to talk." She finally said.

Reborn seemed to mentally shake out of whatever thoughts he'd fallen into to give a sharp nod. He turned on the spot to do as she had asked without another word.

.

The moment she stepped back into the bedroom, Colonello's gaze fell on her with heated intensity from where he was sitting up in bed.

Reborn was talking on the phone in the background, presumably to order up food for the two of them.

Harry dazedly walked through the bedroom, out into the elegant sitting room and took a seat on the sofa.

It didn't take long before Colonello and Reborn followed her, settling in to wait.

A knock on the door made Harry start to rise, but the twin growls from her two Alphas made her sit back down with an exasperated, amused smile. She really should remember this by now; heat made for over-protective Alphas.

Reborn quietly accepted the small cart laden with food, and then closed and locked the door and returned to the sofa, handing Colonello a plate before he sat down with one of his own.

"So." Harry began, leaning back and relaxing against the cushions. "I'm going into heat." She said, drawing Reborn and Colonello's gazes, even though they didn't say anything. "Do you still want to get Mated? Do you want to wait?" She asked, worrying her lower lip with her teeth.

Reborn swallowed his mouthful of pasta, before answering. "I want to Mate with you." He said evenly, dark eyes locked with Harry's. "This heat, the next one or five years from now; whenever you wish it." He shrugged.

Harry turned to Colonello, who nodded. "Yeah. I want it, cora." And there was so much want on his face that Harry might have blushed hadn't she already entered the pre-heat state of mind where it only made her feel good.

"Okay." Harry smiled. "Let's do it."

"Now?" Colonello asked, sounding a little choked, nearly dropping his plate into his lap.

"Well, as soon as it really sets in." Harry said frankly. "I'm not in full heat quite yet."

"But you want to mate with us this heat, cora?" Colonello clarified in a strangled voice. At Harry's nod, his eyes widened further. "You've known us for less than half a year! Reborn and I are in the Mafia, cora!"

Harry smiled languidly, slumping down in her seat a little. "You're already mine, and I'm yours." She said simply, without thinking on it, the words dropping from her lips like kernels of truth. "Why wait?"

Both males eyed her hotly for a long minute, before returning to their food, a dogged determination in their movements.

"Anything else you wish to cover before, amore?" Reborn asked, his deep voice making shivers run down Harry's spine.

She hummed. "There's a lot I haven't told you about the war, but nothing that can't wait, I think. You?"

"I'm good." Colonello nearly growled, biting down on the tines of his fork as he stared at her.

Reborn smiled, a mere twitching of the corners of his mouth. "I'm the Worlds Greatest Hitman?" He offered mildly.

Harry looked at him, smiling a little. "I don't think you'd ever be satisfied unless you were the best in whatever field you chose." She commented lightly, feeling another wave of _heat_ flush her system.

Nearly there, now.

Reborn looked smugly satisfied with that assessment, while Colonello snorted and rolled his eyes, though he looked amused at the same time.

"So how do you want to do this?" Harry asked, a little breathlessly, and the mood turned serious once more. Reborn and Colonello exchanged a long look.

"I'll go first, I think." Reborn said slowly, and though Colonello looked reluctant, he nodded. "My self-control is still best, and stepping back afterwards..." He shrugged elegantly, and Harry bit her lip.

"No fighting." She agreed, feeling her breathing speed up a fraction, and she didn't doubt that her pupils had dilated.

A few seconds later, Harry could safely say that she was officially in heat.

The t-shirt she'd put on after her shower felt constricting, chafing against her skin and Harry absently tugged on it while she waited for the two Alphas to eat up.

When they were nearly done, Harry stood up and wandered back towards the bedroom, leaving the double doors open in her wake.

Once she was back in the dimly lit room, she pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it aside and then pushed her panties down and stepped out of them and climbed onto the bed in the same motion.

For some time, she was lying sprawled on the bed, on her stomach as she panted through her growing discomfort. She could hear muted conversation from the other room, no doubt as Reborn and Colonello hammered out a few details she couldn't be bothered with right now.

She was still suppressing her scent with care; she didn't want to slam it into either of their faces when they required clear heads a little while longer.

But it was getting difficult.

Whining a little, low in her throat, Harry closed her eyes and buried her face in the sheets, taking deep breaths of Reborn and Colonello's mixed scents.

There was a deep rumble from the bedroom door, and Harry glanced over to see Reborn staring at her, hands curling and uncurling slowly at his sides, as if wanting to grab her and not let go.

Harry made a low answering noise, drinking in the sight of Reborn's bare chest. He was wearing nothing more than a pair of dark grey pyjama pants, which hung low on his hips.

She began to let up on the iron-grip she had on her scent, letting her pheromones into the room in increments until the smell of her was thick in the air.

Reborn tensed, all of his intent and focus fixed on Harry's form sprawled diagonally across the bed. When his own scent reached her, Harry hummed, half-lidded eyes trained on the man as she began to move.

The Alpha followed her every twitch, every single tensed muscle as she shifted her weight and slowly got her knees under her, raising her hips up off the bed.

Had she been anywhere near her normal state of mind, the provocative position would have rendered Harry speechless with mortification. As it was, with her cheek still pressed against the soft bedclothes, Harry arched her back and _presented_ herself to Reborn.

He approached slowly, deliberately, every move calculated and careful.

Harry wasn't sure when he had discarded his trousers, but when he put one knee on the mattress behind her, he was most definitely naked.

Reborn's hand on the small of her back made her shiver pleasantly and she pressed into the touch. He slid his palm to fit over the curve of her ass before moving it forward again until it was resting in the dip of her waist, giving him an easy hand-hold.

He was kneeling behind her and Harry had to bite her lip to stop herself from _whining_ with impatience. She wanted him _in her, damn it_!

Reborn slowly coaxed her into the right position; on her knees still, but her shoulders lifted from the mattress and supported on her elbows.

One of the man's hand were between them, caressing the inside of one of her thighs, moving up and down, and up to slide over wet, warm, _sensitive_ , flesh. Two fingers slipped inside and Harry exhaled harshly into the skin of the inside of her left elbow.

Reborn kissed her shoulder, withdrew his fingers and replaced them with his heavy cock.

Harry made a small, inarticulate sound of pleasure when he pushed inside the welcoming warmth, taking all of him and wanting more.

With a slow, unsteady exhalation Reborn bent forward, until his chest was pressed against Harry's back, melded together. Harry pressed back against him as he nuzzled her shoulder and neck, kissing and licking the heated skin until Harry felt she'd start to squirm if he didn't move soon.

"Reborn." She breathed, pushing back again, causing the man in question to growl softly, tightening his hold on her.

"Patience." He whispered in her ear, but Harry didn't _want_ to be patient. Not right now.

Then he was moving. Withdrawing and rolling back in at an agonizingly slow pace that Harry still found delicious.

Muffling her quiet moans and trembling sighs into the inside of her own elbow, Harry lost herself to the building pleasure as every roll of Reborn's hips brought them closer and closer to climax.

Harry was a panting mess when Reborn leaned forward again, mouth on her shoulder and sucking on the tender skin.

She moaned and instinctively knew this was it.

Reborn seemed to feel it, too, because one of his arms came to rest in front of Harry's face, holding his weight up and smelling tantalising.

Without a thought, Harry's mouth was on the skin just above the wrist, licking and sucking gently.

Reborn's tongue dragging over the skin on her shoulder disappeared, replaced a second later by a warm mouth and sharp teeth that tightened with promise over the tender glands resting just beneath the skin.

Harry moaned and mirrored the action, giving Reborn's skin one last lick before placing her teeth against his arm.

When Reborn bit down, teeth popping through her skin with surprising ease after a moment's resistance, Harry crashed into orgasm and bit down on the Alpha's arm.

Harry could feel her teeth sinking into flesh, a thin sheen of blood coating her tongue, but all of it just intensified her orgasm until she couldn't think, couldn't do anything but ride the pleasure.

When she eventually came back to herself, they were lying on their sides, Reborn still inside of her and holding her securely to his chest.

Harry raised a trembling hand to her face to push her hair out of her eyes.

She felt... she couldn't describe it. It was amazing, and all of her felt like it was sparking with electricity. Every single point of her skin in contact with Reborn sent pleasure jolting through her.

Reborn hummed, the vibrations travelling into her chest making her shiver and moan. Then he dragged his tongue over the bite on her shoulder and Harry's body tensed into another orgasm, before she'd had time to recover from the last one.

When she came down from that one, Reborn was nuzzling his face into her hair, and she could practically _feel_ his self-satisfied smirk.

"Cheater." Harry whined breathlessly, feeling like she was nothing more than a big pile of trembling muscles.

She managed to regain enough control of her own limbs to move her hand to Reborn's arms around her waist.

The man tensed when her fingers danced across his sweaty skin, moving down towards his hand.

When she reached the bite mark _she_ had left on Reborn, she pressed gently on it and the man's whole body tensed with a rough hiss tearing out of his throat, and he curled around her as he came.

Just from a touch.

A few minutes later, Reborn reluctantly withdrew from her, leaving her empty and unhappy.

Harry said nothing, though, as she watched him get off the bed and slowly backed away from her.

Her focus soon enough shifted to Colonello, who rose from the chair he had been sitting in, tense and trembling from effort not to move.

Harry hadn't even noticed he was in the room.

She happily rolled onto her back to meet him with an eager kiss when he was close enough.

By the time they broke apart, Harry was feeling like she was more in control of her own limbs again. With a slow smile, she pushed gently at Colonello's chest until he had given her enough room to move.

Harry rolled over onto her front and, with some effort, got onto her knees and elbows.

Colonello growled and grabbed her hips, aligning himself and pushing inside.

Harry bit her lower lip and rested her forehead against her forearms, eyes slipping closed with pleasure as Colonello fucked her.

She didn't open her mouth again until Colonello's mouth connected with her shoulder -the other one- sucking on the skin and nibbling gently with what felt like relish.

Harry, knowing what to expect now, made a small, needy noise and pressed herself back onto the man's dick.

When Colonello moved to bring his left arm in front of Harry's face, she licked over the faded Mating scars already there, making the man tense.

Harry hummed languidly, tasting Colonello's skin even as she explored the old teeth marks. With one last kiss, she turned her attention to the area right above them, a little further from his wrist, but just as receptive to what they were about to do.

Colonello groaned into her shoulder and bit down, not hard enough to break skin -not yet- but definitely hard enough to make Harry's muscles tense around his throbbing cock, buried as deep inside her as it would get, with a moan that was smothered against his arm.

The Alpha sucked on her skin a short while longer before biting down, teeth sinking through skin and into the waiting glands.

Harry's jaw clenched in response, breaking Colonello's skin and burying her teeth firmly in his forearm, even as a moan tore itself from her throat and she was deposited into another mind-blowing orgasm that left her a mindless creature for its duration.

As with Reborn, she came to herself afterwards lying on her side.

The difference was that her muscles were still spasming with pleasure every now and then and she quickly figured out why. Colonello's teeth were still buried in her shoulder.

The man growled softly, the vibrations enough to make her gasp.

"Colonello." Harry panted, one hand scrambling for a grip around one of the man's forearms around her middle, but at the sound of his name, the Alpha tightened his hold and clenched his teeth the slightest bit on her flesh.

It was pain and pleasure bundled together in a sweet, delicious burn that dragged through her body and made her come _again_.

When the mattress dipped next to her, Harry was still shuddering.

"Are you okay?" Reborn's deep voice asked quietly, running a hand up and down her arm soothingly.

Harry blinked her eyes open and smiled at him.

"'S good." She said. Colonello had removed his teeth from her shoulder sometime during her second (fourth?) orgasm, but he was still holding her against his chest.

"'S a bit tender, but feels good." She added, carefully stretching a little.

Reborn smiled back, raising his hand to brush his fingers against the clavicle below his own teeth marks.

Harry smiled, holding her hand out expectantly, Reborn's eyes warmed as he held out his left hand for her. She carefully traced around the marks her teeth had scored into his skin, mindful not to touch them.

If they felt anything like Harry's Marks, then they were very sensitive and it was rather nice with a breather right now.

Colonello finally moved, withdrawing out of her, causing Harry to make a small, mournful noise, but she didn't object.

Harry rolled over onto her back with a content sigh.

For a while, the three relaxed, taking a rest as they got used to the new sensations of having a fresh Mate Mark scoring their skin.

Then Reborn rolled over onto his side, facing her as he put one hand on her stomach, before dragging it up over her diaphragm to come to a rest on her left breast.

Harry hummed happily. She was still in full heat, and even the afterglow of _Mating_ could only keep her calm and relaxed for so long.

.

Her heat lasted a full two days, after which they spent another day and a half just recovering in their rooms, sleeping, eating and cuddling excessively.

Of course, Harry doubted the men would phrase it like that, but the truth was the truth.

When she finally got up for another shower, Harry carefully touched a finger to her tender shoulders, looking at herself in the foggy bathroom mirror.

Reborn and Colonello's Marks had scabbed over, were healing remarkably quickly and stood out quite clearly against her naturally rather pale skin. Reborn had bitten her on her right shoulder, on the same side the Hungarian Horntail had scored her with its' tail.

It somehow fit.

It also meant that Harry wasn't very enthusiastic about putting on a bra. This time, not even a sports bra would be a viable option, because the shoulder-straps would still dig into the Marks.

Harry didn't fancy moaning at random in public, than you very much.

The Marks were _tender_ but not in a purely painful kind of way. Touching them sent jolts of pleasure straight to her lower abdomen, something they had all discovered pretty quickly.

At least the two Alphas were largely the same; any time Harry had brushed her fingers over the Marks she'd left on their wrists, they had gotten visibly turned on.

It was strangely satisfying.

Either way, Harry was ever so grateful for magic, because that meant she could put on a bra -sans the shoulder straps- and still ensure that the damn thing would stay up and be comfortable at the same time.

Magic was awesome like that.

"What now?" Harry asked once she was fully dressed. "I'm not very fond of the hotel staff looking at me like they did last time for very long, so I'd at least like to stay somewhere else." She added before either Reborn or Colonello could say anything.

"We've been gone from Italy quite a while." Reborn eventually said, smiling a little as he eyed Harry's wry expression. "It would be wise to go back and check up on things."

"Sounds like a plan, cora." Colonello replied cheerfully. "There might be jobs piling up, and I need to contact Mafia Land anyway."

"Mafia Land?" Harry repeated with a laugh. What sort of name was that?

"Don't worry, Harry. We'll take you there, cora!" He grinned.

"Eventually." Reborn nodded. "Perhaps not right away." His gaze slid to Harry's right shoulder as he said it, making her sigh with exasperation.

They would both be ridiculously over-protective and clingy for a while, wouldn't they?

Of course, Reborn would never admit to clinginess even if his life depended on it.

"So you want to go back to Italy, meet up with a few contacts, catch up on the news and maybe do a few jobs?" Harry asked attentively.

"To the first few things, definitely yes. Doing any jobs," Reborn paused a second. "We'll see." He settled on saying.

Harry laughed a little. "Okay. Just know that I need to be back in England by the middle of April; my godson's birthday is on the 25th."

"You have a godson, cora?" Colonello asked curiously, pausing in the act of pulling on a shirt.

Harry blinked. She hadn't told them?

"Yeah. His parents died last year, at the Battle of Hogwarts. Remus Lupin was the last of my father's best friends and something of an uncle. He made me Teddy's godmother shortly after his birth." She smiled a little, talking about it always brought up the grief, guilt and regret all over again.

"Would you mind us coming along?" Reborn asked carefully, his voice neutral and even.

"I wouldn't want you anywhere else." Harry assured him with a warm smile. That thought, however, made her stomach clench a little. "I will probably have to meet with everyone on my own first, though, to explain... everything." She added weakly, mentioning between herself, Reborn and Colonello.

Reborn snorted and Colonello laughed.

"Let them know you're Mated, cora?" Colonello grinned with wicked amusement.

The words alone sent a rush of affection through her, but didn't change the reality of the matter.

Harry grimaced at him, but nodded. "Oh, how am I supposed to explain the _two_ of you?" She groaned dramatically, but still with some real concern in the back of her head.

"Good luck, Harry." Was all Reborn said, an amused smirk on his handsome face.

Harry blew him a raspberry.

.

They ended up in the city of Palermo on Sicily in the south of Italy.

Apparently, it 'belonged' to the Mafia Famiglia that Reborn was allied to, and was the home to one of his oldest informants.

While Reborn sought out his man to talk business, Harry and Colonello did the town, seeing the sights.

Colonello had been there plenty of times before, but Harry hadn't, and the city was beautiful.

Harry and Colonello were about to have lunch at a very nice restaurant tucked away in an out of the way alley, which meant it was sparsely occupied and only by locals, when Reborn rejoined them.

Trailing behind him was a young man wearing a white suit, of all things, over a black dress shirt. It looked a bit backwards, Harry thought, but he looked familiar enough with Reborn that she was willing to with-hold judgement.

"Reborn." Harry greeted the man with a warm smile, and the man's eyes softened in response.

"Oh, you're back, cora." Colonello grumbled half-heartedly, even thought he had picked a table with three seats instead of two without prompting from Harry when they'd gotten here. "Hey, Shamal."

"Colonello." The man -Shamal- said, blinking a little at the blonde, as if he hadn't been expecting to see him. Then his eyes fell on Harry, and they practically _lit up_. "Hello there, lovely lady." He greeted with a charming grin.

She imagined that if he'd had a tail, it would have been wagging.

Harry merely raised an unimpressed eyebrow and turned to Reborn, waiting for an explanation.

"Harry, this is Trident Shamal, a," He paused for a slightly wry twist of the lips. "co-worker, I suppose."

"Co-worker?" Shamal squawked. "We've been friends for years!"

Harry bit back an amused snort and patted the chair next to hers, which Reborn gladly took.

"Long day?" She asked him lightly, running her fingers briefly over his knuckles. The look he sent her spoke well enough on its own. Harry winced sympathetically. "Well, we haven't ordered yet, so at least we can eat together."

"Interesting." Shamal murmured as he sat down by the table. He had taken a chair from one of the nearby tables, putting it down opposite of Harry. "And who would this beautiful creature be?" He asked, looking more at Reborn than at Harry.

Harry felt her lips peel away from her teeth, a growl building in her chest.

"It's rare to find a Beta suffering from classic Alpha Idiocy." She told him coldly, giving him a sharp smile. "But then again, Italy is ripe with men like _you_."

Reborn smirked at Shamal, who was blinking at Harry like he'd never seen a woman before.

Harry gave him a dismissive look and then turned to Colonello, asking about the food he planned to order and if there was anything on the menu he could recommend.

Trident Shamal had not made a good first impression.

"Harry, I need you to listen for a moment." Reborn spoke up after a few minutes where Harry had gotten a chance to calm down. "I wasn't finished with that introduction."

Harry gave Reborn an unhappy look, but settled in to listen anyway. She trusted her Alpha, her Sun.

"Shamal is one of very few people I consider a friend." He began frankly, making Shamal look more than a little startled, as if he hadn't been expecting him to be that outspoken _at all_. "He's also a Doctor, a very good one, and I'd like you to remember him."

Harry eyed Shamal again. "Alright." She conceded. "But you should know." She continued, talking to the Doctor now. "That if you touch me in a manner I don't approve of, me breaking your nose will be the absolute best case scenario in your future." She promised.

Shamal gave a slow nod. "Who is this woman again?" He asked Reborn out of the corner of his mouth, looking a little pale.

"Harry." Colonello sighed with a wide, amused smile. "You know just what to say to get to a man, cora." He said, grabbing her hand and bringing it to his mouth to press a quick kiss to her knuckles.

Harry grumbled wordlessly under her breath, feeling far too disgruntled to appreciate Colonello's attempt to lighten the mood.

"I swear, the next Alpha that grabs me in an attempt to 'flirt' and be 'charming'." Harry muttered darkly.

The smile slipped right off Colonello's face, and a growl rumbled from his chest as that thought properly registered. He tightened his hand around Harry's.

" _Seriously_ , who is this woman?" Shamal asked again, looking honestly bewildered and a little freaked out.

Harry sighed, because Reborn -who looked purely entertained- didn't seem like he was about to answer that question anytime soon.

"Let's see if I remember this right," Harry began. "I'm these two idiots' Sky." She smiled sweetly.

At her words, Shamal ceased moving. Entirely.

"I think you did it, Harry. You broke him." Reborn said, sounding nothing but interested. As if this was a fascinating new development he hadn't considered before.

In a single instant, Shamal snapped out of it and reached across the table to grab Harry's hand, which had been resting on the wooden surface.

She hadn't expected it, hadn't been prepared and she'd barely met the bloke.

Harry flinched back with teeth bared, her heart jumping in her chest as she _growled_ at the man.

After a tense beat of heavy silence, Shamal, very slowly, leaned back and lifted his hands up in the air in front of him, palms facing outward in the universal sign of surrender.

"I... apologize." He said slowly, not moving a muscle and Harry slowly calmed down enough to realise that both the Alphas beside her were tense and looking like they were _seconds_ away from tearing Shamal apart.

"That's," Harry took a deep, calming breath. "Alright." And she slowly placed one hand each on her two Alphas at the same time as she eased up on her hold on her pheromones.

It took a few seconds, but Colonello and Reborn both relaxed.

"Reborn, you are going to tuck that gun away, aren't you?" She said slowly, smiling at her murderous Hitman of a Mate. "You _just_ told me that Shamal is your friend, and he hasn't done a thing to hurt me. I over-reacted." She said very clearly, giving Reborn a pointed look.

With a small huff, Reborn put away the gun he had pulled from... somewhere, and had been pointing at the Doctor under the table. Then, he placed one of his hands on the back of Harry's neck, running his Flames through her system.

Something Harry patiently waited out, indulging him.

Her Alphas were both a bit jumpy this early after Mating, and Shamal was the first person from their side of the world that they had introduced her to.

Things were a bit tricky right now, and she felt a bit bad for Shamal.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" Harry asked pleasantly, smacking Colonello on the arm without looking at him when he twitched suspiciously. "I'm Harry, Shamal. It's nice to meet you." She said, leaning over the table to shake his hand.

Shamal moved very slowly, gaze flickering to Reborn every other second, but he _did_ reach forward to take that handshake.

"It's an honour meeting you, ma'am." He said seriously, dipping his head in a small, respectful nod.

Harry smiled bemusedly, but didn't comment on his sudden change in behaviour. "So, Shamal. Are you in the same business as Reborn?"

"Occasionally." He said, sounding a bit hesitant. Like he had no idea where this was going.

Harry nodded. "Was that how you two met?" She asked curiously.

They had to take a break in the conversation when the waiter finally swung by their table to take their orders, in addition to Reborn and Shamal's drink requests. The moment he had swept off again, Harry turned expectant eyes on Shamal.

"Uh, not quite. I met Reborn when I was going through medical school." He said slowly, gaze flicking to Reborn again.

The man in question was perfectly relaxed in his seat now. Which might have had something to do with the fact that Harry was releasing more pheromones than usual.

"You already had a reputation by then." He said languidly.

"That's what happens when you use certain skills to put yourself through university, cora." Colonello interjected amusedly, folding his arms in front of his chest.

Shamal gave him an annoyed look.

"Anyway, our paths crossed and I haven't been able to get rid of him since." He grumbled.

Harry laughed. "He is very insistent, isn't he?" She smiled mischievously at the Doctor, who gave a slow blink. "The trick is to distract him."

"Giving away my weaknesses now?" Reborn rumbled sedately.

"Like Shamal didn't know that already." Harry scoffed. No one could deal with Reborn for any length of time without figuring _that_ out. He could be intense. "Anyway, what speciality do you have?"

"Infections and diseases." Shamal answered after a beat of silence, eyeing her with more and more curiosity now that Reborn and Colonello were non-threatening and perfectly docile.

Harry tilted her head. "That's an interesting branch." She murmured. "How come you ended up in that particular field?"

"It has to do with my other line of work, as well as a personal interest." Shamal said vaguely, a small smile playing on his lips. "And what do you do? If I may ask?"

"My education has been severely lacking, I'm afraid." Harry said, smiling wryly. "Certainly nothing as fancy as a doctorate." She cut herself off, watching their waiter approach with several plates of food weighing down his arms. She thanked him quietly when he put down a plate in front of her and then watched him do the same for the men. "I actually came to Italy to begin with as a favour to a friend." She smiled a little. That was certainly true, if merely scratching the surface of the whole story.

"And how did you meet these two?" Shamal asked interestedly, gesturing at Colonello and Reborn with his fork.

"Quite by accident." Harry snorted, picking up her own cutlery. "I just wanted a quiet place to eat, really."

"You walked into the _one_ bar with close affiliations to our line of business in the entire town, Harry." Reborn said, sounding reluctantly amused and mildly exasperated.

Harry scowled at him. "Shut up."

"But the way you socked that Merluzzo brat in the face was _beautiful_ , cora!" Colonello laughed.

Harry sent the man an irritated glower. "Like I was just gonna sit in his lap like an obedient little Omega." She growled, then took a deep breath. "Regardless. I couldn't seem to get rid of them after that." She finished her story, jerking a thumb at her two Alphas. Not that she had tried all that hard to lose them.

Shamal was staring at her. Wide eyes and everything.

"You're a civilian?" He asked evenly once he had regained his voice.

Harry eyed him calmly a long moment. "From your perspective, I suppose I am."

Reborn and Colonello looked subtly pained.

"Harry." Colonello said, staring intently at her. "I hope you realise that you're really not, cora?"

"I know." Harry sighed. "I'm just saying that from most people in your line of business, that's what I am. To them." She shrugged, not really concerned. "I don't mind much; it's the same most places."

Harry was well aware of the look Reborn and Colonello exchanged over her head.

Instead of dwelling on their mother-henning, Harry watched Shamal watch the byplay.

When he finally returned his attention to Harry's, she met his gaze with a small smile she wasn't even conscious of.

"Almost every single person I've gotten to know that cared about me always end up being over-protective." She shrugged. "It's a mystery." She said, even when it really wasn't. Harry knew _exactly_ why all her friends worried for her, why Reborn and Colonello reacted as they did. They could _see_ the impact the war had had on her on her skin. (She wasn't taking her status as a Sky into consideration, though.)

She had so many scars, the thought of counting them made her tired.

That wasn't to say that either of her Alphas didn't have any scars of their own; both of them had plenty. But the nature of their scars were different.

You could tell that someone had been trying to kill Harry for years. Insistently.

Shamal looked confused now and Harry didn't blame him.

Reborn leaned forward in his seat and slowly took her right hand in his. With a quick glance at first Harry and then Shamal, he carefully began to pull up the sleeve of her jumper.

Harry watched, making no attempt to stop him.

She trusted Reborn, and Reborn obviously trusted Shamal enough to do this.

Scattered burn scars, the jagged line Wormtail had carved into her arm and the ever present words on the back of her hand greeted her sight when Harry gave her forearm and hand a dismissive once-over. Same as always.

Turning back to Shamal, the man's gaze was fixed on her exposed skin with a closed off, unreadable expression.

"Not civilian." Reborn finally said, bringing her hand up to his mouth to press his mouth against her knuckles, dark eyes meeting her own.

Harry sighed and gently reclaimed her hand, pulling the jumper sleeve back down.

"I have never claimed to be one, Reborn."

The rest of the evening was spent conversing with Dr. Shamal, working on getting to know him a little and Harry even got to see a new side to Reborn.

All in all, it was a lovely day.

.

They met up again a few days later.

Harry was returning from a trip to the loo when she caught part of a conversation she wasn't sure she was supposed to hear. Reborn didn't change the subject, though, so it wasn't disastrous. He always seemed to know where she was.

"Reborn, does anyone even know?" Shamal asked quietly where they were standing, watching the crowd of people moving amongst the tourist shops down by the ocean.

"Other than you? No." Reborn didn't sound concerned.

"And you don't think this will get out?" Shamal demanded, a little incredulous.

"Eventually." Reborn conceded without pause.

"Reborn!" Shamal actually hissed.

"She's strong enough to have Harmonized with _me_ , Shamal." Reborn cut into the tirade Shamal looked to be working himself up for.

The Doctor spent a few seconds mulling over that with a frown on his face. "Just because someone has strong Flames don't mean they have the first clue how to use them." He eventually settled for saying.

Reborn snorted. "The first time I talked her through consciously using them, she snapped straight into Hyper Dying Will Mode." He said, voice dry and amused but mostly serious.

Shamal did a double take.

Harry let out a small, exasperated sigh and walked over to them. "You're never going to let that go, are you?" She questioned, despite the fact that she knew the answer well enough; they had talked about it already. That didn't change the fact that the look on Shamal's face was fairly entertaining.

"No, Harry. No, we're not." Reborn returned without missing a beat.

"I'm a very determined person." Harry said simply. _And stubborn_. She'd had to be, up through the years, or she'd have been dead long before she'd gotten a chance to meet her Alphas.

"I can't argue with that." Reborn muttered with a darkly amused smirk. "Any idea where the Idiot went?"

"Colonello got a call he needed to take." Harry replied absently as she let her eyes roam the street around them. "From his associates, I think."

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask this." Shamal cut in before Reborn could do more than nod. "How are you so relaxed with the whole 'underworld' thing?"

Harry tilted her head, gaze cutting to Shamal to study his face. "I have already seen some of the worst things humanity has to offer." She said evenly. "Reborn and Colonello are _mine_ and I know exactly what sort of people they are."

She slowly blinked out of the strange mood she'd fallen into, only to be faced with Shamal's gob-smacked expression and Reborn's satisfied look.

"Okay." Shamal said faintly a moment later, shaking his head a little to snap himself out of his daze. "One hell of a Sky you've got there." He said to Reborn, who was practically oozing smugness.

And for a while, that was that.

She could tell that there was a lot more on the Doctor's mind, but he kept it to himself during the time he spent with them. He kept sending Reborn pointed looks every now and then that Reborn seemed perfectly content to ignore.

Harry left them well enough alone to work it out between themselves. She could feign ignorance when it was to her advantage.

Before they knew it, it was well into April.

-x-x-x-


	12. Chapter 12

**Happy New Year! Well... at least it's gotten to be the 31st here already, so! :D I had to post another chapter today, as something of a birthday present for myself.**

 **Yes, I know what you're all thinking! EmptySurface is sharing the same birthday as Lord Voldemort!? And it's sadly true. Not my fault; blame my mother!**

 **Anyway here it is! The last chapter for this year. Hope you'll enjoy! ^^**

 **Hold Your Head High**

 **Chapter 12**

Returning to England felt quite absurd after so long.

At least both Reborn and Colonello were right there with her when they walked out of the airport.

Muggle transport ensured that it would take a while before the general magical population learned that she was back amongst them. Harry wasn't all that optimistic, though.

It would come out, probably sooner rather than later.

"Come on; let's find an out of the way spot to apparate from." Harry told them in a quiet mutter, taking both of their hands to make sure she didn't lose them in the crowd. Unlikely as that was, better safe than sorry.

Turning towards the two males, Colonello grimaced a bit and Harry could understand; Side-Along apparition sucked. Especially before you got used to it, and so far, Harry had only done it with her Alphas a mere handful of times.

"Ready?" She asked, feeling a little amused, despite herself.

"No." Colonello muttered, which was overrun by Reborn's firm, "Yes."

"Hold on tight." Harry smiled, holding out her hands for them to take, one each.

Reborn complied without hesitation, but she had to send Colonello a questioning look before the man finally grasped her hand as well.

Harry took a deep breath, concentrated on where she wanted to go and then turned on the spot, pulling her two Alphas with her through the suffocating nothingness.

A heartbeat later, they were in the heart of London, where it was a matter of minutes to walk to a suitable hotel.

"And you'll wait here, right?" Harry asked once they had checked in. Separate rooms this time, because Harry wouldn't be there. It was just for one night, though.

"Of course, cora!" Colonello said, looking surprised she even had to ask.

"I'll be back tomorrow, I just-" She cut herself off with a grimace, "need to explain things before I show up with the two of you." Harry muttered.

Not only did she have to drop the bomb that 'Hey! I'm a Mated Omega now!' but also somehow had to break the news that she had Mated with _two_ Alphas instead of just the traditional one.

Fun times. Plenty to look forward to.

"Good luck with that, amore." Reborn chuckled, pulling her in for a kiss that Harry happily melted into. "As long as you come back tomorrow, we'll be waiting here."

It was heavily implied that if she failed to do so, Reborn and Colonello would turn England on its' head to find her.

Harry laughed a little. The Wizarding World really had _no idea_ what they were in for when it came to her Mates.

"Yeah." Luck would be something she'd need, and preferably not her usual, shitty one. "Cross your fingers."

With one last kiss for each of them, Harry left for the Burrow.

.

The Burrow looked exactly as it had the last time she'd seen it before her departure, lopsided and gravity defying and all.

Harry stared up at it with warm affection and growing trepidation for the reactions that were waiting for her inside.

Even before she reached the kitchen door, she could see Molly moving by the counter through one of the windows, baking?

Yeah, when she came closer, she could see there was flour covering her up to the elbows.

Smiling a little, Harry knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Molly said over her shoulder, not taking her eyes off the dough she was kneading. It made Harry think she might have been expecting someone else.

But then again, people just tended to swing by the Burrow whenever they had a moment to spare these days. The food was certainly good enough to draw most people here instead of anywhere else.

Closing the door silently behind her, Harry smiled at the red-headed matriarch. "Hello, Molly." She greeted warmly.

Molly whirled around, spreading flour about her in a white cloud that slowly began to drift to the floor.

"Harriet!" The woman exclaimed and threw herself at Harry, who laughed and hugged her back tightly when Molly pulled her into an affectionate embrace. "Oh, you're here! Why didn't you let me know? I would have cooked something!" She very nearly sobbed, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

Harry probably had flour everywhere now, but she couldn't care less. "I wanted it to be a surprise!" She laughed. "And I didn't want to be swamped by all my _fans_." She grimaced a little at the mention of the crazy masses.

"Oh, yes, of course, dear. I understand." Molly sniffled slightly, still a blinding smile on her face. "Oh, you look amazing, my dear!" She added, taking in Harry's appearance properly now.

Harry blinked, glancing down on herself. She supposed she had gotten a bit of sun, and gained some weight so she no longer looked like a stiff wind would bowl her over.

"Thank you. Some time away has done me well." Harry grinned mischievously. "I also have some news that I really need to share." She added, more serious now, trying to squash down the anxiousness gnawing on her insides.

"Good news, I hope?" Molly asked worriedly, still clutching Harry's shoulders. As if she couldn't bear the thought of letting go of her quite yet.

"I, ah, um, Mated." Harry told her with a smile and a faint blush. She wasn't ashamed; the opposite! But it would come across as very sudden to her family.

Molly studied her for what felt like a long moment, taking in every nuance of her expression, before breaking out into beatific smile.

"I'm so happy for you!" She said softly, pulling her back into a hug that was somehow even warmer than the one before.

"That's not all." Harry murmured into Molly's shoulder and the woman stilled.

"Are you pregnant?" She asked with some concern, leaning away just enough to look Harry properly in the face.

"No." Harry laughed a little. The potion Poppy had her on would never fail like that; the Matron was too good at her job. "It's just the," she hesitated, "nature of my Mating?" Harry mused, still not knowing how to put this.

"The nature of it?" Molly repeated confusedly.

"I, ah," Harry laughed awkwardly. "May have managed to Mate with two Alphas?" She offered hesitantly.

Molly's eyes slowly widened as she digested that. "Oh, dear." She said quietly. "And that is, um, to say, they're not at each other's throats?" She asked slowly, arms tightening around Harry protectively.

Harry shook her head. "No. They're friends, and they argue and tease each other plenty, but they wouldn't want to upset me." Harry smiled, feeling a bit bashful. "They're very considerate of me."

Molly smiled, looking a little bewildered, but full of affection and support nonetheless. "Well, you must invite them over, Harriet, dear."

"I was hoping you'd say that." Harry smiled. "They actually came back to England with me." She confided.

"Oh, this is marvellous!" Molly smiled, looking thrilled now. "You must have them over!"

"I was going to see them tomorrow to tell them how the big revelation went anyway." She said with a snort. "I'd love to just bring them back with me."

"I must make a big dinner then! Invite the whole family." Molly beamed. "Of course, Merlin knows we would have done that regardless; we haven't seen you in months, Harriet."

"Thank you." Harry said softly, sincerely, as she tightened her arms on the woman that was the closest thing to a mother Harry had ever had. "Thank you so much, Molly." She said, burying her face in the older Omega's shoulder, breathing in her comforting, familiar scent.

"My dear girl." Molly murmured, rubbing one hand up and down Harry's back.

They stood like that for a long few minutes.

"Now I just have to figure out how to tell all the others." Harry laughed weakly into Molly's shoulder.

The woman laughed heartily. "Well, you should tell the girls first, dear. I believe they'll have a bit of an easier time to accept the news." She sounded immensely amused as she said it, and Harry snorted.

"Oh, wow. Yeah." She agreed. "Do you know where they are? All of them up at Hogwarts? Or is Hermione off at the Ministry?"

"They were all at the school last I heard." Molly replied cheerfully. "You go ahead and use the floo to speak to Minerva while I finish up here." She said, mentioning towards the forgotten dough on the counter.

"Thank you." Harry said, stepping away from her.

"Let me just remove all the flour, first, dear." Molly said with an amused sigh as she took in Harry's appearance.

Harry laughed.

.

About an hour later, Harry was leaving the Headmistress' office together with the woman herself.

"Sorry to just show up like this without warning, Professor." She smiled apologetically, walking beside the impressive witch through the deserted castle corridors. They had waited in her office for lessons to start, since Harry would like to avoid attention for a while longer.

"Nonsense." Minerva McGonagall smiled. "It's nice to have you back, but I fully understand why you'd like to keep a low profile. Seeing your friends to let them know you're here is perfectly acceptable."

"Still, it's very kind of you." Harry grinned.

"After all the trouble you've had in this castle, I could do nothing less, my dear." McGonagall said with a small, rueful twist of the lips, patting her on the shoulder.

Harry had to bite her lower lip, because the Mate Marks were still tender and sensitive. Not that McGonagall knew they were even there.

"So where are they right now?" Harry asked.

"In Charms." McGonagall said briskly. "I'll be taking you to a visitations room, though. Still wouldn't want the students to catch sight of you, Harry." The woman smirked. "I'd have a riot on my hands."

"Yeah." Harry sighed, wrinkling her nose in distaste at the truth of that statement.

A few minutes later, McGonagall left her in a spacious room furnished with two sofas and several comfortable-looking armchairs arranged around a large coffee table.

Harry gratefully sank down in one of the armchairs, feeling knackered.

Travelling the muggle way was perhaps a bit less jarring than by magic, but at least a Portkey was over in a few minutes. Flying by aeroplane took hours, and that wasn't even mentioning all the crowds and the waiting you had to do.

After about ten minutes' wait, the door opened and Harry straightened up with a smile.

Hermione let out a delighted shriek when she spotted her and Harry could only really describe the witch's following action as a flying tackle-hug.

"Nice to see you, too, Hermione." Harry laughed a bit breathlessly, hugging her best friend back enthusiastically.

"Take your time, girls!" McGonagall called from the door with an indulgent, affectionate smile, and then closed the door and left them to themselves.

"When did you get back?" Ginny asked, nudging Hermione aside so that she could hug Harry, too, only to be followed by Luna, who smiled serenely all the while.

"Just this morning." Harry grinned. "I went by the Burrow first and talked to your mum." She replied, sending Ginny a quick glance before looking the others over.

They all looked much better than the last time she'd seen them.

"How've you been?" Hermione asked, looking like she couldn't keep the question in a moment longer.

"Great." Harry laughed, before she bit her lip. "Actually, before everything else, there's something I have to tell you."

"What? What is it?" Hermione immediately asked, her smile giving way for worry. "Did something happen?"

"You could say that." Harry snorted. "Nothing bad!" She hurriedly added at the mildly alarmed looks on the three girls' faces at her words. "It's just... maybe it's better if I just show you?" She mused out loud, gaze flicking from Hermione, to Ginny, to Luna and back again.

When none of her friends said anything, Harry stood up with a silent sigh. Hesitating a fraction of a moment, she took a hold on her shirt and pulled it over her head.

Harry slowly folded her shirt up and placed it on the arm of the chair behind her and then turned her full attention on the small group.

"Are those-" Ginny began in a strangled voice. "Mate Marks?"

"You Mated? Congratulations, Harry." Luna smiled after a long silence, looking the least floored of the three.

Harry smiled back at her. "Thank you, Luna."

"You... found a Mate? Why would he bite you twice?" Hermione finally asked, looking a curious mixture of embarrassed and intrigued.

Ginny made a small noise in the back of her throat, her eyes widening as they flicked from one of Harry's shoulders to the other several times.

"He wouldn't." She said slowly, looking like she could hardly believe it. "You Mated with _two Alphas_!?" She exclaimed, surging to her feet.

"Um, yes?" Harry gave an awkward laugh, scratching self-consciously at one of her clavicles.

"How would- Is that even possible?" Hermione finally asked, looking confused.

"I've never heard of it happening before." Luna said, not sounding bothered by that in the least. "Alphas are more likely to kill each other than share."

Harry groaned and placed a hand over her eyes. "I know! I don't even know how it happened, okay?"

"You have two Mates?" Ginny clarified, and when Harry lowered her hand to look at her, the look on her face made her blush. "How does that work during heat?" She asked with a slowly growing grin that looked far too wicked for Harry's tastes.

"Ginny!" Harry covered her face again, feeling like it was on fire.

"No, but seriously." Hermione cut in before Ginny could say anything else. "You've Mated. With two Alphas." Harry gave a hesitant nod, wondering where Hermione was going with this. "You've been gone for _barely_ _four months_!"

"It felt longer, alright!?" Harry cried back, feeling a bit harried. "I know it was quick but I lo-" She cut herself off with something that might have been horror. She hadn't said it to Reborn and Colonello yet!

"You love them?" Ginny asked with a wide, delighted smile on her behalf. "Well, I bloody well hope so if you Mated with them, Harry."

Harry sank down in the armchair with a groan, slapping a hand over her eyes.

"It was so much easier to tell Molly." She mumbled weakly.

"You told my mum you have two Mates? And she took it better than us?" Ginny asked, sounding incredulous. "Go, mum." She muttered to herself, clearly impressed.

"When will we get to meet them?" Luna asked mildly into the following silence, looking entertained with the others reactions.

"Think you can get away for a family dinner tomorrow?" Harry asked without looking up. "Because I'm bringing them to the Burrow."

"They're here? In Britain?" Hermione asked, still looking a little wide-eyed, but like she was starting to assimilate all the information she had been given in the last twenty minutes. "Where are they from?" She added with a thoughtful look.

"Yes, they're here. I wouldn't leave them behind this soon after Mating." Harry muttered, feeling her cheeks heat up again. "As if they'd let me." She added with wry amusement. "And they're both Italian."

"Are they handsome?" Ginny asked, leaning forward eagerly.

Harry's blush intensified. "They are _so_ handsome." She gave a helpless laugh.

"Oh, you've got it bad!" Ginny hooted excitedly. "I don't care if I have to break out, I'm gonna be there tomorrow!" She laughed.

"We won't have to break out." Hermione cut in exasperatedly. "Professor McGonagall is a perfectly reasonable witch, Ginny."

"It's a figure of speech." Ginny returned without pause. "For most people, at least. _I'm_ not one of the ones in this room guilty of successful bank robbery."

Hermione blushed and Harry snorted.

"Who would have been able to guess?" Harry mused. "I mean, I still remember what you were like at eleven, Hermione." She grinned.

"Oh, shut up." Hermione groaned, covering her face in her hands, as if she was lamenting all her life choices leading up to this point. Harry was still able to see the grin on her face, though.

"What was it again? Oh, right. Me and Ron having to get our priorities straight. Because apparently, we could have died, _or worse_ , been expelled!" Harry laughed.

Even Luna gave an inelegant snort.

"Well, we've all managed to corrupt her quite nicely, I think." Ginny smirked, before turning back to Harry. "Tell me, fellow Omega. What was Mating like?" She asked curiously.

Harry froze, and she blushed _again_. It didn't help that Ginny and Luna both looked genuinely curious and interested to find out.

"It was incredible, alright?" Harry finally relented, still feeling like you could fry an egg on her cheeks. "Utterly amazing. But that's just because I found my Alphas." She practically purred. Reborn would have been smirking at her if he'd been there to hear. "They're the best." She sighed.

When she snapped out of it, even Ginny looked mildly embarrassed, together with the other two.

"Um." Harry cleared her throat awkwardly. "So, I'm maybe a bit in love?" She offered uncertainly.

"And newly Mated." Luna added happily. "You're still a bit high on hormones, I'd think."

"Well, yeah." Harry muttered, unsurprised. "I still can't touch my own damn shoulders without feeling like I'm-" She cut herself off at the look on Ginny's face. "No, _no_ , Ginny! Don't you dare-!" She scrambled to get away from the red-head throwing herself at her, but Ginny's fingers still managed to press down on one of her Mate Marks and Harry had to stifle a moan.

"Wow. That's was far more effective than I imagined." Ginny muttered a second later, looking a bit embarrassed. Harry gave her the evil eye.

"You think?" She asked, before blowing a raspberry at the younger Omega. "Great, now I'm turned on. Thank you, Ginny." She added sarcastically with a sigh, picking up her shirt to pull it back on. "Prepare yourself for payback when _you_ get Mated." She added with an amused smile.

At the ringing silence, Harry blinked and took in the sight of Hermione, Ginny and Luna all staring at her.

"What?"

"Who are you and what have you done to the real Harry Potter?" Ginny asked amusedly once she'd snapped out of the surprise. "Merlin, Harry. What have you been doing while you were away?"

Harry felt her face heat up - _again_ \- and she glared half-heartedly at her.

"Getting to know her Alphas, obviously." Luna said with an airy laugh, looking thrilled for Harry's sake. "I'm excited to meet them, now." She almost-smirked, sending Ginny and Hermione a long glance out of the corner of her eye.

Harry laughed. "Oh, I've missed you, Luna!"

"Hey! What about us?" Ginny demanded with mock-offence.

"Well, Luna's the only one in here who hasn't tackled or molested me in the last hour." Harry said impishly. "But of course I've missed you, too!"

"You realise you haven't even told us their names yet, right?" Hermione finally asked with a fond smile, patting Harry affectionately on the knee.

"Oh." Harry blinked. She'd forgotten, hadn't she? "Their names are Colonello and Reborn." She smirked at the incredulous expressions that gave her. "So, any suggestions on how to break the news to all the Weasley Males without them trying to do something stupid to my Alphas?"

She was going to Andy's after this, but she had plenty of time to spend with Hermione, Ginny and Luna to plan and catch up. If Ginny's sharply amused grin was anything to go by, then the following conversation would be plenty interesting.

.

The next morning, Harry apparated directly to an empty alley close to the hotel Reborn and Colonello were staying at.

Harry walked into the lobby at a brisk pace, fully prepared to ride up the elevator to visit their rooms to collect them. That was until she saw the two of them sitting in the lobby, in armchairs next to each other.

Harry smiled and changed her course.

"Good morning!" She greeted with great cheer, enormously gratified when both men immediately looked up and zeroed in on her.

"Harry!" Colonello grinned, standing up and pulling her into a tight embrace.

Harry laughed into his chest, but hugged him back just as tightly. "You saw me yesterday."

"It felt like a week, cora." Colonello returned shamelessly, burying his nose in her hair and Harry obligingly released a bit more pheromones. "Let's not do that again anytime soon."

Harry snorted and stepped away from him to greet Reborn.

She didn't hug the Hitman, because he wouldn't want it when they were in public, but smiled up at him and let him brush his fingers over her right shoulder. Harry reached for his left hand and briefly slid her fingers over the ridges of the Mate Mark she'd given him.

Reborn's eyes warmed and he mentioned towards the door. "Lead the way, tesoro."

Harry grinned and, slipping her hand into Colonello's larger one, walked in front of the two men back outside.

It took no time at all to bring them to the deserted alleyway she had claimed as apparition point. Before she actually did it, though, she paused and looked the two over.

"The Weasleys are rather poor, but they're rich in love and they're my family." She said slowly. "Just. Keep that in mind?" She asked.

"They're your family." Reborn said simply, as if that explained it all.

Harry smiled at him, took in his dark suit and fedora and tried to picture him in Molly's kitchen. Ah, well.

"Here we go." Harry murmured, clasped both their hands tightly and turned on the spot, apparating straight to just outside the wards around The Burrow.

.

Harry took a deep breath and then opened the door leading into the kitchen.

Colonello was still busy staring up at the house in obvious fascination, because it really looked like magic was the only thing capable of keeping it together.

"Molly?" She called into the house, holding the door open for her two men, who walked in behind her. Reborn looking like he had been here a hundred times before, hands in his pockets and a pleasant, if rather bland, expression on his handsome features.

Colonello, on the other hand, was very nearly bouncing on the balls on his feet in excitement. Because, Magic!

Harry glanced at him with a smile as he took in the casual house-hold magic around them, from the wireless radio to the dishes doing themselves in the sink.

"Harriet, dear? I'll be down in a minute!" Molly's voice came drifting down from the stairs and Harry grimaced slightly, because-

"Harriet, is it?" Colonello grinned teasingly at her.

"Oh, shut up. You've known all along that 'Harry' is a nickname. What did you _think_ my actual name was?" Harry smiled at him.

"It could have been Henrietta." Reborn interjected with good humour.

Harry wrinkled her nose. "That's actually worse." She agreed. "Okay, so, family matriarch is Molly Weasley, her husband's name is Arthur. They have six children named Bill and his wife Fleur, Charlie, Percy, George, Ron and one daughter named Ginny. Then there's going to be Andromeda Tonks and her grandson Teddy; my godson. Then there's Hermione Granger, Ron's girlfriend and Luna Lovegood." She recounted quickly.

Harry had mentioned all of them in conversation before, but that didn't stop her from going over it again. Sometimes several times, so this was really just a reminder. She paused a little before she continued in a quiet voice.

"George had an identical twin, who died in the Battle of Hogwarts last year, so I'd appreciate if you'd go easy on him. It's been a hard year for George." She said sadly, glancing at the staircase to make sure Molly wasn't there yet.

"How do we know which one he is?" Colonello asked seriously.

"Other than the grief on his face? He's missing an ear." Harry sighed tiredly. She turned to lean her hip against the kitchen table, facing the two Alphas. "This family was hit very hard in the war. Try to be tactful, okay?"

"We understand, Harry." Reborn said, stepping up to her and placing the tips of his fingers right over her heart, an intent look in his eyes.

Harry gave him a sad, tired smile. "We all know there's a lot I haven't told you yet." She said quietly.

"We do." Reborn replied with a slight smile, easy acceptance in his eyes, before he stepped back.

"No rush. We have time, cora." Colonello smiled encouragingly at her from the sink, where he was poking the plate that was currently being washed, suspended in the air above the sudsy water.

The sound of steps on the stairs made them all turn to face the flustered Weasley matriarch as she stepped into the kitchen.

"Oh, dear. I'm so sorry for making you wait, but I was airing out a room for the three of you." Molly said with a welcoming smile. "Nice to see you again, Harriet." She said, pulling Harry into another hug. "Now, why don't you introduce me to these two handsome fellows you've brought with you?" She continued with a teasing smile.

"Um, Molly, meet Reborn and Colonello. My Mates." Harry flushed a little as she introduced them, even as a wide grin stretched her lips. It was the first time she'd gotten to introduce them _as her Mates_. The first time she got to introduce them at all, actually. "Guys, this is Molly Weasley."

"The adoptive mother." Colonello smiled, striding up to the red-head with his hand extended. "It's nice to meet you, cora."

Molly looked suddenly tearful, but greeted the tall blonde with a warm, sincere smile. "Nice to meet you too, dear."

"Madam." Reborn shook her hand next, even going to far as to give her a faint smile. "It's an honour. Harry has spoken highly of you."

"Oh, she's just a dear. We all love her very much." Molly said, smiling tenderly at Harry, who barely resisted the urge to shuffle her feet awkwardly. "And look at you! Such handsome Alphas." She said, before she bustled off to fix them up a quick lunch, making everyone tea as she asked them to sit down. "You just must tell me how you met!" She smiled enthusiastically over her shoulder, waving her wand without looking at the stove and counter.

"I walked into a bar for something to eat in Florence, was harassed by some big-headed Alpha and these two apparently thought my reaction was impressive." Harry recounted quickly and succinctly. Before either Reborn or Colonello could embellish it into something ridiculous.

"It wasn't just impressive, cora. It was _beautiful_!" Colonello laughed.

Molly smiled, but there was a small frown pulling on her brows at the same time, in a distracted sort of manner. She sighed. "I'd wish you'd get a bit more of a break, dear. I swear the Alphas never were this insistent when I was young."

"Let's hope it won't be as much of a problem from now on." Harry said, probably being far too optimistic, but a girl could dream. "And you had Arthur, Molly."

"Tell me about your stay in Italy. How was the Italian Ministry?" Molly continued by asking, and Harry bit the inside of her cheek to keep a straight face. She hadn't told Reborn and Colonello about this yet, and she'd bet their reactions would be rather amusing.

"Very much like our own, but with more yelling and gesticulating." Harry snorted. "The sexism was pretty bad, but after I broke a few wrists, they finally got the point."

She could _feel_ Reborn's gaze on her skin, but Harry cheerfully watched Molly cook instead of turning to face him.

"You never told us you worked for the Ministry, Harry." Colonello said slowly, looking confused.

"I don't. I just happen to know the newly elected Minister pretty well and he asked me to act as liaison between the English ministry and the Italian one as something of a personal favour." Harry replied calmly.

Molly sent her a long, heavy look. "Harry-" She began slowly.

"I'm working up to it." Harry promised quickly before Molly could say anything more than her name. "They know I haven't told them everything, it's just- hard. To talk about." She shrugged uncomfortably.

Molly sighed but nodded. "Very well, dear."

"We've covered the things that are truly important." Reborn drawled sedately from his seat next to Harry, which he made look as comfortable as a luxurious armchair, rather than the simple wooden kitchen chair it really was.

"If you say so." Molly smiled bemusedly, looking a little flustered as she glanced at Reborn, who looked rather pleased with himself.

Harry sighed with fond exasperation and slipped her hand into Reborn's under the table.

"Il mio Cielo." The man murmured softly, squeezing her fingers gently.

Harry smiled at him, and when she turned back to Molly, realised that the woman had been watching them interact with close attention.

"Lunch!" Molly said brightly, flicking her wand and floating several plates onto the table. "Eat up, because the first of our guests will be arriving shortly."

"Who?" Harry asked curiously. She'd thought the rest of the family wouldn't start arriving until at least late afternoon.

"Andromeda is popping over with Teddy. I figured you'd like to have some bonding time with your godson before the cavalry gets here." Molly grinned a little as she served everyone plenty of food.

Harry smiled happily and dug in with her Mates right there beside her, two steady presences on either side of her.

.

Having spent the previous night in the Tonks house, Harry had already prepared Andy for the news of her two Mates, but that didn't mean she was any less nervous to introduce them.

The woman hadn't said anything about coming over early today, but Harry appreciated it. Teddy had already been asleep when she'd finally made her way from Hogwarts to Andromeda's house the night before.

"I haven't even met all of them yet, but I can tell your family loves you, Harry. No need to be nervous, cora." Colonello told her with a soothing smile when Harry couldn't stop pacing.

"I really, really want everyone to like you as much as I do." Harry muttered, tugging absently on a lock of her hair.

"I doubt that's going to happen." Reborn smirked a little, watching Harry with growing amusement. When she looked at him, he elaborated, leaning back in his seat a little. "I intimidate people."

Harry scowled unhappily. "Well, people're stupid, then." She huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You're not going to just kill someone without provocation."

"Most people are spineless cowards, cora." Colonello shrugged, as if saying there was nothing to do about it.

"No one here is going to be afraid of either of you." Harry said firmly, meeting first Reborn's and then Colonello's gazes. "They might be a bit wary, but they won't be afraid."

"If you say so, cara mia." Reborn murmured, tilting his fedora down to shade his eyes.

He had changed out of the suit he'd been wearing this morning, opting instead for jeans and a simple, pale yellow dress-shirt. That didn't mean he'd given up his precious fedora, though. Their things had been put away in the room Molly had prepared for them.

Harry tried not to think about the fact that it was Fred and George's old room.

The sound of the floo flaring up stopped Harry from saying anything else, and with one last look at her two Alphas, Harry left the sitting room for the kitchen.

Where she found Andromeda dusting herself and Teddy of soot and ash on the carpet in front of the fireplace.

"Hi, Andy." Harry greeted with a smile, even though most of her attention was on the child in her arms. "And hello to you, Teddy." She added softly, smiling at the boy and wiggling her fingers in front of his face. "He's gotten so big!" She said, trying not to feel guilty about how long it'd been since she last saw him.

"Harry." Andromeda smiled and pulled her into a careful hug, mindful of the child caught between them. "It's so nice to have you back."

"It's good to see everyone again." Harry agreed. All the rest, though, wasn't all that positive, in her opinion.

"Do you remember Harry, Teddy?" Andy murmured into Teddy's soft, downy hair, rocking him slightly. "This is your godmother, love." She met Harry's gaze with a deep, emotional one of her own. "Would you like to hold him?" She asked.

"Yeah." Harry breathed, staring at the child, her godson. Remus and Tonks' son. "Tell me if I'm doing it wrong?" She requested as she gingerly accepted the one year old, who was blinking up at her curiously. She hadn't held him in so long, what if she had forgotten how to do it properly?

"You're doing great." Andromeda smiled.

"Hi, Teddy. You've gotten so big." Harry told him softly, holding him close to her chest as she ran the fingers of one hand through his soft hair.

Andy watched her a long moment, looking almost tearful, before she pulled herself together and cleared her throat. "Now, where are these Alphas you told me about? Can I expect an introduction?" She asked, a slightly teasing glint entering her weary eyes.

Harry pressed an almost bashful smile against Teddy's temple, but nodded. "They're through here." She said, walking ahead of the older Omega into the sitting room.

She instantly caught her Mates' eyes when she stepped through the door, and she could feel the way they inwardly perked up. They both remained seated, though.

"Andy, these are my Mates. Reborn," She nodded at the dark haired male who was slumped languidly in the sofa, "and Colonello." She continued, gesturing at the blonde with a wave of her hand. "Guys, this is Andromeda Tonks, Teddy's grandmother."

"Nice to meet you." Colonello smiled widely, looking like he wanted to jump out of his seat and bounce over to pull her into a hug, but somehow managed to refrain. "Harry's told us much about you, cora!"

"It's an honour." Reborn murmured sedately, looking like he was near dozing.

Harry knew it was to make himself seem less threatening, and she was at the same time touched by the gesture, and a bit upset that he believed it was necessary.

"I would say I've heard a lot about you, but Harry didn't tell me until yesterday." Andy smiled, looking thoughtful but tentatively pleased for Harry's sake. "I look forward to getting to know you better." She said sincerely, approaching Colonello to shake his hand.

"Harry's told us a lot about her family, cora. We're happy to be here." Colonello enthused with a grin.

Andromeda smiled amusedly in the face of such heartfelt enthusiasm, before turning her attention on Reborn.

Harry could see the weight of her gaze on the man, but that didn't stop her from shaking his hand as well.

"And this beautiful boy is Teddy, my godson." Harry continued into the slightly stilted silence.

"He's turning one, right?" Colonello asked, even though Harry knew he knew that perfectly well already.

"Yes, on the twenty fifth." Andy confirmed with a tender smile at Teddy and Harry. "Something to look forward to and celebrate before-" She cut herself off with a deep breath, closing her eyes as she visibly fought back the grief that was still fresh in her eyes, even now.

Harry turned to stare down on Teddy, who met her gaze. She blinked a little when his blue eyes slowly turned green to match her own.

"I know." She said quietly.

"Are you staying? They're planning a memorial service and I know it would- a lot of people would appreciate seeing you there." Andromeda said softly.

Teddy began to fuss in Harry's arms, and she was perfectly happy to focus all her attention on the boy for a moment, before she relented and carefully set him down on the floor. It took no time at all for Teddy to get on his hands and knees to shuffle towards one of the coffee tables.

"I don't know." Harry finally said when she couldn't ignore the question any longer.

"Kingsley's going to bring it up as soon as he hears you're back in the country." The woman warned her quietly, no pressure in her voice for Harry to do one thing or the other. Merely telling her how it was.

"Yeah." Harry tried to smile, but all she could feel right then was bitterness.

People wanted to see her there, their hero. They wanted to see their saviour, their Chosen One. As if Harry wasn't a real person who had lost _so much_ on that date a year ago, as if she hadn't been willing to give up _everything_ for the people she loved just to be able to end Voldemort's reign of terror once and for all.

As if she wasn't broken.

They had no idea the things she'd been put through! How dare they-

A low, deep rumbling growl reverberated trough the room, snapping Harry out of the downward spiral her thoughts had sucked her into.

Harry blinked repeatedly, before her gaze found Reborn's. The man hadn't moved a muscle, but was watching her with sharp, intent eyes that didn't seem to miss a thing.

The growl hadn't been threatening, or even vaguely aggressive, just a way to draw her attention.

Harry ignored the way it still made Andromeda tense and quickly glance at Teddy to make sure she knew where he was.

With a small, slightly strained smile, Harry walked over to the sofa and slumped down next to Reborn, whose face was as inscrutable as usual.

"Thank you." She told him quietly, before turning back to Andromeda to ask about the latest news. It was safe to say that she hadn't kept up with the Magical World while she'd been gone, but she had a feeling she would need to make up for lost time now that she was back. Quickly.

.

The first one to arrive of the Weasley brood was George.

Harry was still in the sitting room with her Mates, keeping an eye on Teddy, who was amusing himself on the floor with some of the toys Andromeda had brought with her.

Molly had swept into the room to collect Andy a while ago, and brought her up into the house to show her some of the baby clothes she had unearthed, which had left Harry plenty of time to wind down with Colonello and Reborn.

The sound of the floo made Harry stand up, however, and she was on her way to the kitchen when George strode into the room with determined purpose and had pulled her into a tight embrace before she could do more than smile at the sight of him.

"Hi." Harry mumbled into George's shoulder, wrapping her own arms around his waist and holding just as tightly, taking a deep breath of his familiar, comforting scent. She tried not to think about the fact that the tinge of grief seemed to have become a permanent fixture. "How are you?"

"You're back." George murmured into her hair, ignoring her question for now.

Harry could _feel_ his muscles slowly unwind and relax as he held her and took deep, calming breaths. As if he hadn't been able to relax properly since she'd left.

"I'm back." Harry agreed, trying not to feel guilty. It was more difficult with George than with Teddy, because her godson wouldn't really remember the fact that Harry had basically abandoned him for months on end during the first year of his life. George, however, was fully aware and had had to suffer the consequences of her leaving when he needed her most.

"Please don't be gone so long next time." He whispered quietly against her temple, voice trembling slightly and Harry's heart ached.

"George." She breathed back. "I'm so sorry-" She began, but George made a dismissive sound in the back of his throat.

"I know why you left." He refuted, tightening his arms further around her, as if he couldn't help himself. "You deserve a break more than anyone else, but part of me can't help but wish I'd gone with you."

"Oh, George." Harry sighed, resting her head against his shoulder, feeling sad.

She had no idea how long they stood like that, leaning against one another.

It didn't even occur to her that her Mates might have some issues with her cuddling up to another Alpha -one they had never met- but neither Reborn nor Colonello said a word or moved a muscle.

Some undefinable time later, George took a deep breath and backed away half a step from Harry without letting his arms fall from around her shoulders.

"You Mated." He said quietly, voice even and a small smile playing around the corner of his mouth. He didn't look even mildly surprised. As if he had seen this coming for a long time.

Harry peered up at him, feeling vaguely amused but mostly perplexed. At her look, George elaborated with a half-sided shrug.

"I can smell the difference."

"You were always my favourite." Harry smiled faintly, knowing that George would know Fred had been -and always would be- included in that as well. "I knew there was a good reason for that." She added in a quiet murmur.

"I'm surprised they haven't ripped you away from me yet." George whispered in her ear, a hint of his former self slipping into his voice. Harry hadn't heard him sound so mischievous in well over a year.

Harry smiled, and she just knew that George was studying Reborn and Colonello over the top of her head.

"Let me introduce you." Harry said, taking one of George's hands and tugging him with her as she backed towards her Mates, smiling warmly at the freckled redhead.

When she finally turned around, Harry let her gaze slide over first Reborn and then Colonello, taking in their relaxed postures and calm interest.

"George, meet my Mates; Reborn and Colonello." Harry smiled at the two, who glanced at her before turning their attention back to George, whose fingers tightened around Harry's. "Guys, this is George." She smiled.

"Nice to finally meet ya, cora." Colonello smiled with genuine warmth in a way part of Harry hadn't expected.

"So I understand you and Harry are rather close." Reborn said with a surprisingly friendly smirk.

"Leave it up to Harry to find a way to break every established, known fact about Alpha-Omega relationships and get herself two Mates without anyone losing their life in the process." George returned, sounding amused.

"It's not too late for that, don't worry." Reborn drawled with a wicked smirk, making George laugh a little.

"Might be needed eventually." He agreed, and there was a hard glint in his eyes that made Harry squeeze his fingers again and roll her eyes.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." She declared firmly. "No one is getting killed in this house."

"Harry, you're such a killjoy, cora." Colonello said with mock-regret, looking exaggeratedly mournful.

George snorted and pulled Harry into a quick, one-armed hug, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

"As far as first impressions go, you could have made a lot worse." He said with a weak, tired grin. It was still genuine, so Harry counted it as a clear win. "Now you just have to tell me how mum took the news."

Harry laughed and re-took her seat on the couch, tugging George with her as she started on the task of catching him up on everything that had happened.

She had a feeling she'd be forced to do that a lot in the near future, but she didn't mind one bit.

.

"Where are they?" Was the first thing out of Ginny's mouth when she stepped out of the fireplace, fingers curling around Harry's arm as she eagerly looked around.

"Hello to you too, Ginny. Nice to see you." Harry returned bemusedly.

"Oh, stuff a sock in it. I saw you yesterday." Ginny said distractedly, standing on her tiptoes in an attempt to look over her mother and into the sitting room. Molly, who had come down to the kitchen to check on dinner, rolled her eyes. "We both know the _real_ reason I'm here tonight," she added with a playful smirk.

"I don't know if I should be happy or worried about your levels of enthusiasm," Harry mused out loud to herself. "You realise they're both already taken, right?" She added teasingly, bumping Ginny with her hip.

"'Taken' are they?" Ginny turned to Harry with a leer and suggestive eyebrow wiggling.

Harry rolled her eyes. "Considering you saw the proof of that with your own eyes just yesterday; yes." She snorted.

Ginny laughed. "Who else is here? Are we the last to arrive?"

"We?" Harry questioned with an amused grin, glancing at the empty fireplace. "Did Hermione get caught up in an argument with McGonagall? I thought you were all supposed to arrive together."

"I take it we're not last, then." Ginny continued cheerfully, as if Harry hadn't said much of anything. "The house would have been a lot louder if everyone had been here already."

"What did you do?" Harry asked with growing amusement, eyeing Ginny knowingly.

The younger Omega affected an offended look. "Why do you immediately assume _I'm_ the guilty party?"

"Because you usually are?" Harry returned with a grin. "Because I know you?"

"Fair enough." Ginny gave up her pretence with an easy laugh. "Now, I refuse to wait a moment longer; take me to your devilishly handsome Alphas!"

"I didn't call them that," Harry snickered. Not that it wasn't eerily accurate, but Ginny didn't know that yet.

"Not verbally, no." Ginny drawled, slinging one of her arms over Harry's shoulders. "But it was heavily implied."

Harry was still laughing when they walked into the sitting room. "Ginny, meet my Mates." Harry smirked at her younger friend, who was staring at Reborn and Colonello, looking damn near gob-smacked.

"Looking good there, Ginny." George commented idly from his seat on the sofa, eyeing his sister with muted amusement.

Ginny's attention snapped to George, and if anything, she grew even more slack-jawed. Because her older brother, who had been tense and worn and could barely smile, was sitting relaxed in the Burrow's beat-up sofa next to an Alpha he had never met before, looking like there was nowhere else he'd rather be right then.

"Wow." She finally said, making Harry raise an eyebrow.

She wasn't sure if that was an appraisal of Colonello and Reborn's looks, or because of George. Harry took a slow but deep breath and confirmed that, no, her two Mates were clamping down on their scents like usual, so it wasn't because Ginny was feeling overwhelmed by their pheromones either.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Reborn declared with a confident smirk, watching Ginny intently.

That didn't make Harry miss the way he was -very casually- sitting with one arm slung over the back of the sofa, the tips of his fingers just about brushing against George's shoulder. At a glance, it looked like nothing more than an accident.

Harry blinked once and didn't otherwise react. She trusted her Alphas, and they knew how important George -her family- was to her; if Reborn had found a need to run his Flames through George's system, then she was sure he had a very good reason for it.

Ginny outright gawked at Reborn a few more seconds before she snapped out of it with a slow, steady grin growing on her freckled face.

"At least we all know what your type is now, Harry." She said with obvious mischief dripping from her sweet voice. "Always going for the gorgeous Italian, aren't you?"

Harry made a strange sound that was somewhere between a snort and a cough, before cutting Ginny an unimpressed look. She couldn't even refute it.

"Interesting." Reborn murmured, meeting Harry's gaze for a heartbeat, before turning back to Ginny.

Harry's attention was drawn to Colonello, though, who had remained uncharacteristically silent for far longer than Harry would have expected.

And true to form, the man burst into motion soon enough, nearly vibrating with pent up excitement.

"It's so nice to meet you, cora!" He exclaimed, standing up and having picked Ginny off her feet in an instant to hold her in the air in front of him as he beamed at her face. "Harry's told us loads about you and you seem like a kick-ass Omega, cora!"

"Thank you?" Ginny drawled after a long second of heavy silence, where Harry barely resisted the urge to introduce her face to the palm of her hand.

Smooth, Colonello. Smooth.

"What the moron _means_ ," Reborn cut in with a warning glance at Colonello, who deflated slightly, "is that we've looked forward to meet Harry's family for a while now and you seem like a fascinating young woman." Reborn explained in a calm, almost sedated tone of voice.

Ginny smiled wryly at him, still dangling from Colonello's hands. "Nice save."

"Don't be impressed." Harry said. "Reborn will milk the situation to the fullest." She warned with plenty of dry amusement.

Reborn's dark eyes glinted with suppressed laughter, even though his expression remained unchanged.

"Thank you." He said, leaving it up to their interpretation whether he was talking about Ginny's comment or Harry's explanation.

Knowing him, it was probably both, Harry determined after barely a fraction of a seconds' contemplation on the matter.

"You can put me down now, thank you." Ginny said once she'd turned her eyes back on Colonello, who grinned sheepishly and instantly complied. "So, what's wi-"

Whatever Ginny had been about to ask got interrupted by the sound of the fireplace flaring up as someone else flooed in.

"GINNY!" Hermione's indignant shout alerted them all to exactly who it was that had just arrived.

"Oops, time to go. See you all later!" Ginny immediately went to the widow, magicked it open, tossed a playful salute in Harry's direction and was then gone and out of sight.

Harry really _did_ slap a hand over her face that time.

"I like her, cora!" Colonello declared cheerfully, still staring with interest out the window. "A real firecracker."

"You have no idea." Harry muttered with reluctant amusement.

"Harry? Where are you?" Hermione called out, sounding marginally calmer this time.

"In here!" She shouted back, a smile stretching her lips.

She just about had time to turn around before she was nearly bowled over as Hermione rushed up to hug her, giving her a face-full of bushy hair in the process.

"I know I saw you yesterday, but you're back! It's so nice to see you!" She could hear the smile in Hermione's voice and her arms tightened around her middle. "I can't believe how bad you are at keeping in touch!" She added, an indignant note to her voice now as she stepped back to scowl at Harry. "Four months and you couldn't be bothered to send more than _three_ letters?"

"I was busy!" Harry exclaimed, mildly exasperated but not surprised. "And I bet Dario gave Kingsley regular updates about how I was doing."

"I was really worried, you know." Hermione said, sounding like she'd barely heard her. "It wouldn't have surprised me if you had managed to get into some sort of trouble, either. And then Ron and I would have had to track you down in _Italy_ of all places, and who knows how long that could have taken!" She took a deep breath to continue her rant, but Harry quickly and expertly pressed one of her hands over her mouth.

"Hermione." She said sweetly. "I thought you wanted to meet my Mates?"

Hermione blinked, as if she'd forgotten. "Oh."

"Yes, these are Reborn and Colonello. Guys, this is Hermione, one of my best friends." Harry introduced, turning back around to see her Alphas' entertained expressions.

"Charmed to meet you." Hermione smiled a bit distractedly as she took in the rest of the room. "Hello, George. Did any of you happen to see where Ginny went?" She asked next, eyes narrowing slightly.

Colonello, looking cheerfully fascinated, happily pointed at the window, throwing in a helpful, "Snuck out the window, cora."

"Thank you." Hermione replied primly, drew her wand with deliberate motions, and then left through the window in the same manner Ginny had in pursuit of the younger girl.

"What did Ginny do?" Harry asked curiously, turning to accept a hug from the third and last new arrival.

"There may or may not have been a few Weasley Wizard Wheezes involved." Luna replied dreamily, sinking into Harry's hug with something that felt like relish. Harry could practically _feel_ the attention she was giving Reborn and Colonello, though. "Your Mates are very interesting, Harry."

"Thank you." Harry grinned, squeezing the younger Omega tightly for a moment before she let go and took a step back to meet her gaze. "They are very good for me." She confided quietly.

Luna smiled. "I can tell." Then she turned to the two Alphas in question, walking over to sit with Reborn and George on the sofa. "So, have either of you ever heard of the Crumplehorned Snorkack?" She asked hopefully, and Harry watched with fondness as Luna introduced the two men to her personal brand of weirdness.

-x-x-x-


	13. Chapter 13

**I am sad to announce that this is the last finished chapter I have. Which means that I don't know how long you're gonna have to wait for the next one...**

 **Well, hopefully you'll enjoy this one, and it might tide you over until I get back into the writing mood. ^^'**

 **Hold Your Head High**

 **Chapter 13**

The family dinner was, at large, a great success.

Molly's cooking was excellent, as usual, the company warm and welcoming and everything Harry had ever wanted in a family.

That didn't mean there weren't a few hitches, though.

"How long have you two known Harry?" Percy asked halfway through the meal, eyeing Reborn and Colonello with interest where they sat on either side of the woman in question. When Colonello told him the answer, he looked mildly concerned. "Bill and Fleur at least dated a year before they decided to Mate and get married." He replied, giving Harry a long look.

She knew he was just trying to look out for her, but that didn't change the fact that it made him sound like a prick.

"Don't be rude, Perce." Ginny said before Harry got the chance to open her mouth. "Harry's a grown witch; she can take care of herself." She said with a pointed look at her older brother.

Harry bit her tongue and carefully didn't say anything, and even managed to give Percy a small, reassuring smile.

"Reborn and Colonello aren't going to let anything happen to Harry." Luna said vaguely where she was sitting next to Ginny, swaying slightly from side to side, as if moving to a song only she could hear.

"Charlie, how come you're here? I didn't know I gave you enough heads up to get time off of work?" Harry asked, perhaps a bit more loudly than she absolutely had to as she turned to the next oldest Weasley son, who started a little at being addressed so suddenly.

"It's a bit of a happy coincident." The long-haired Beta admitted after swallowing his mouthful of food. "I've taken time off to be home for a while now that Fleur's getting closer to her due date." He shrugged, sending the woman in question and her husband a warm grin. "I figured Bill would need the extra support." He added with a wink at Fleur, who burst into laughter.

"Oui! He will need all ze support he can get." Fleur agreed with a mischievous smirk at her husband, who rolled his eyes.

"We're all looking forward to finally meeting the little one." Molly said with a tearful smile in the expecting couple's direction, one hand over her heart.

Dinner was enjoyed in relative silence for a while.

"What do the two of you do for a living?" Hermione finally asked, looking Colonello and Reborn over curiously.

"I'm former military, cora!" Colonello replied without missing a beat. "These days I just work as a training instructor, though." He smiled.

Hermione nodded thoughtfully and turned to look expectantly at Reborn.

"I have a degree in mathematics, but I work mainly independently."

Reborn's words were met by stunned and or confused silence.

"I'm sorry but, you don't really look like a maths professor." Hermione slowly said in response to that a few seconds later, once she had gotten over her initial surprise.

"Not enough tweed?" Reborn asked mildly, a wicked smirk playing around the edges of his mouth.

Harry snorted. "Hermione, you don't exactly look like someone reworking an entire government from the ground up either." She pointed out reasonably to her friend, hoping she would let this go for now.

Hermione eyed her knowingly, but let the matter drop -for now- with a wry, acknowledging smile.

Harry couldn't say she was terribly surprised to hear Reborn had a degree, either, because it somehow just... fit the man.

"Are you three going back to Hogwarts tonight?" She asked next, looking from Hermione, to Ginny, to Luna and then back again.

"It's Thursday." Ginny said with a shrug. "McGonagall thought since it's just one day of classes left before the weekend, we could just as well take the day off. Hermione has meetings with Kingsley on Saturday anyway and it's not like we won't catch up." Here, she gave Hermione a weighty look. The girl took her studies _very_ seriously.

"McGonagall sounds much more relaxed than I remember." Harry murmured amusedly. The amusement didn't go very deep, though, because Harry knew exactly _why_ things were so different this year.

"A lot of students need to leave on a regular basis." Luna said softly. "At least most of the trials are over with now."

Harry frowned down on her plate and pushed the remaining food around for a while, lost in thought.

"I still wish you'd come back with us; Hogwarts just isn't the same without you there," Hermione sighed wistfully, breaking the awkward silence.

"You know perfectly well why our Omega Supreme didn't return." Ginny drawled, giving Harry a playful salute.

Harry rolled her eyes. "I was busy enough at first that it wasn't a viable option. Besides, after all of last year, settling down into a classroom would feel a bit..." She trailed off with a shrug.

"Most of the professors do treat us like adults and closer to equals rather than students now." Hermione agreed thoughtfully.

"Is that so strange when you're one of the people writing major parts of our new legislation?" Luna asked, blinking confusedly at Hermione, as if she couldn't understand why someone _wouldn't_ think like that.

"You're helping, too." Hermione muttered embarrassedly. "As is Arthur. And Percy is basically in charge of going through the Archives, to find and sort all the old, out-dated laws that are still technically in effect," she added, redirecting the attention even further.

"Yes, thank you. We all know I'm doing the most work around here." Ginny drawled with an amused grin. "There's no need to rub it in."

"Speaking of, how's the founding of that Omega Rights Movement going, dear?" Molly asked, directing her question at Hermione, who promptly blushed.

"Molly!" She hissed back, and Molly blinked, looking puzzled. "I haven't told her yet!"

"Oh. Well, now is as good a time as any, my dear." Molly finally said, smiling bemusedly.

Ron, sitting next to his girlfriend, where he had quietly observed the people around the table for most of the evening, rolled his eyes. As if he had brought this issue up with Hermione several times to no avail.

"Hermione?" Harry questioned mildly. She was fairly sure she knew where this was headed, but she wanted to be sure.

"Fine!" Hermione exclaimed, turning to Harry with dogged determination and stubbornness painting her features. "I've started drafting the beginning stages of an Organization." She admitted.

"Let me guess; you're making me the figure head," Harry said evenly, sending Ron a _look_. Her friend shrugged apologetically and waved a hand at Hermione. As if that explained everything.

Which it sort of did.

"It's the natural next step! We've been working towards this for years, whether you've been aware of it or not." Hermione said, looking like she'd really like to pace frantically right about now, but was restraining herself. "With the current political climate, public opinion of you and everything after the war, it's the perfect time!"

"A word of warning would have been nice." Harry stated mildly, keeping her voice from going flat with effort. "And also some input from me? Your _possible_ future figure head?"

"I'm just drafting up the very first suggestions, Harry. I would have brought them to you the moment I was done and we could have worked on them from there together," Hermione said briskly, tucking one strand of hair behind an ear. "And besides, you were out of the country only Merlin knew where, and I had no idea when you were coming back." Here, she gave her a disapproving look.

"As if it would have been all that hard to get a hold of me with magical means if you really wanted to." Harry sighed, and then slowly relaxed her tense shoulders. She didn't want this to evolve into a full-blown argument. "We can talk more about it later."

"Excellent, because dessert is ready." Molly declared loudly, bringing all conversation at the table to a halt.

Harry was fairly sure Percy had been regaling Charlie with the latest in his work with the Ministry Archives, Ginny and George had been conversing quietly about the joke shop, with the occasional input from Luna, while Bill and Fleur had merely been acting like the married couple in love that they were. Andromeda had been focusing mostly on Teddy, feeding him, occasionally sharing a few, quiet words with Molly or Arthur about something or another.

Ron had been observing Harry's Mates for most of the evening, a measured look in his eyes.

Arthur and Molly had been watching it all with a content sort of sedated happiness. Enjoying the fact the whole family had gathered together for the first time in quite a while.

Molly waved her wand and the table cleared itself, the dirty dishes floating over to the sink. Another swish and dessert plates and cutlery took the old ones' places.

Arthur took that opportunity to bring out the two massive pies his wife had spent a good portion of the day preparing and making and setting them in the middle of the table.

"This looks lovely, mum." Ginny chirped, smiling up at her mother.

"Oh, thank you, dear." Molly said, quickly retaking her seat. "Harry, why don't you start?"

"Thank you." Harry smiled and set about cutting into the closest pie, to serve herself a respectable slice. When she was done, she nudged Reborn. "Here."

Reborn's lips twitched minutely, and she was very well aware of the amusement he had all but radiated all throughout dinner. Colonello had been less reserved with his own entertained feelings, smiling and grinning nearly constantly as he watched all of their interactions.

At the end of the night, Harry was happy to say that there had been no disasters.

Her Alphas had held up admirable under the near-constant scrutiny and focus of Harry's family. Bill had been watching the three of them and their interactions particularly closely whenever he hadn't been absorbed with his very pregnant wife and Mate.

She desperately tried not to think of the reason behind his actions -with limited success- and instead tried to focus on catching up with her friends.

Ron had been pretty quiet, so she turned to him to ask what he'd been up to lately.

.

Getting ready for bed was a quiet affair.

Exhausted, Harry was slowly changing into her favourite sleep-wear; nothing more than panties and a large t-shirt. Which she may or may not have pilfered off of Colonello when no one was looking.

Reborn, who had lied down on the bed already, was watching her with dark, intent eyes.

"It's a nice family." He said quietly.

"They are." Harry smiled a little as she folded up her clothes with an unusual amount of attention. "Have been since I met them when I was twelve."

With a sigh, she walked over to the bed, climbed over Reborn and settled down beside him, head resting on his chest.

Reborn's arm curled around her, holding her close.

For the Burrow, the rest of the house was remarkably silent. Bill and Fleur had gone back home to Shell Cottage after desserts, taking Charlie with them. Ron and Hermione had escaped off to their shared flat (mostly Ron's while Hermione was at Hogwarts), with Percy following suit, going back to his, since he was working the next day.

The only ones who had remained at the Burrow for the night were George, who was sleeping in Ron's old room, and Ginny and Luna, who had decided to have a mini-sleepover. Harry could hear faint laughter coming through the walls from the direction of Ginny's room every now and then.

Drifting on the very edge of sleep, her mind as close to blank as she could make it and slowly unwinding from an emotionally tense day, Harry still couldn't fall asleep before Colonello was done with his shower and finally joined them.

When the Alpha in question stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, Harry took a deep breath, burrowed deeper into the bed and prepared to sleep.

It wasn't until Colonello slipped into bed behind her that she actually drifted off, though.

She would have been happy to say that it had stayed that way until the next morning.

 _Harry was standing in the Burrow, arguing with Ron, the redhead insisting that she owed him a sock._

" _I didn't take your stupid sock!" Harry exclaimed for the fifth time._

" _Then what's THAT?" Ron accused, pointing at Harry's head._

 _Harry blinked and became aware of the weight on her head. Without pause, she snatched a golden crown from the top of her hair, staring at it with growing distaste._

" _That's MINE!" Ron said haughtily, jerking the crown from Harry's unresisting fingers and primly setting it on his own head, before flying off to the three goal posts to the sound of an enormous crowd singing 'Weasley is our King'._

 _Harry didn't have time to stare after him for long, because the two Bludgers swerved sharply off course and headed towards her instead of the closest player._

 _She turned on her heel and ran._

 _From one moment to the next, there were no longer Bludgers hunting her, but something else. Something dark, cold and dangerous that was constantly nipping at her heels._

 _Harry ran between dark trunks of trees, cluttered rooms and what looked like her primary school library, before she stumbled out the front doors._

 _Only for a circle of Death Eaters to surround her, trapping her in place._

 _Breath escaping in panicked gasps, Harry desperately looked for a way out, but the circle of masked Death Eaters tightened around her, growing taller and darker, their skull masks morphing, elongating until they looked like skeletal dragon heads protruding from the darkness of the ragged hoods._

 _The bony maws creaked open, a deep orange-red glow bubbling up in the back of the throat and Harry knew she had to get away or be burnt to a crisp._

 _More determined than ever to get away, she tried to run between two of the dragon creatures, only to discover that she was unable move._

 _With a crackling roar, the skeletal dragons' fire spilled from their mouths and Harry closed her eyes and braced for the searing pain- that never came._

 _Carefully blinking her eyes open, feeling like she couldn't breathe, she was met with the sight of a very familiar face grinning at her from far too close._

" _Let's have a bit of_ fun, _" Greyback growled as he reached for her and Harry_ panicked. _The ropes binding her were too tight, she couldn't get them off, they were wound around her wrists and keeping her from clawing Greyback's eyes out! She had to-_

"-arry. Wake up; it's a dream. Wake up, tesoro."

Harry's breath wheezed through her throat as she came back to herself, too wound up to recognize where she was.

She still couldn't move her arms freely and desperately tugged on the limbs, only to slowly come to the realisation that her wrists were caught in a firm but gentle hold, not ropes.

Staring uncomprehendingly at the hands around her arms, she eventually looked up to meet Reborn's steady gaze.

"It was a nightmare." He told her quietly but firmly and Harry, instead of calming down, felt her breath stutter in her chest and her eyes widen. "Shh. It's alright."

"Deep breaths, cora," Colonello added, sounding anxious.

Harry tried to breathe, tried to collect herself and think about this rationally.

It had been a while since she'd had nightmares this bad, and the first time since she started sharing a bed with her two Alphas.

Reborn slowly loosened his hold on her wrists, before letting his hands slide down to her elbows and then back out to her hands, braiding their fingers together.

"You're safe," he said, his dark eyes intent and ferocious enough that she knew that any threat would be torn apart before it could step within ten paces of her. "Try to breathe," he added, slowly, carefully moving to place one hand on her chest, his Flames trickling along her ribs to ease her burning lungs.

Harry felt suddenly boneless. Relaxing on the bed, one trembling hand slid out to the side until Colonello snatched it up and held it, cradling it like he thought it might break if he squeezed too hard.

"That was _bad_ , cora," Colonello whispered shakily, bringing Harry's hand to his mouth to press a lingering kiss to her palm.

Reborn didn't answer, merely watched as Harry focused on taking deep lungfuls of air and trying to make herself stop trembling.

Minutes passed, and she couldn't quite get herself back under control, or make her thoughts stop racing. At least not anywhere close to as fast as she would have liked.

"Want to talk about it, cora?" Colonello finally asked, eyeing her like he thought she might disappear, his fingers tightening around her hand.

Harry sat up with a deep sigh, reclaiming one of her hands temporarily to pull it through her hair.

"Not really." She shifted uncomfortably. With another sigh, she dropped her hand into her lap, staring at a long second, before she held it out to Reborn. The man took it without pause, as if he had been waiting for her to do just that. "It was a mishmash of memories from the war, I suppose."

Neither of her Alphas said anything for a long time.

"Harry, we _know_ there's plenty you haven't mentioned yet. There's no need to rush; we can wait," Reborn rumbled, watching her in a way she knew meant he missed nothing.

"I hate the thought of you fighting, but there's nothing we can do to change the past, cora," Colonello agreed, lifting her hand to his face to press another kiss to her hand, to the back of her fingers this time before he pressed her hand flat to his face, leaning into her palm.

"You know when I told you about Voldemort?" Harry said, closing her eyes and relishing the closeness of her Alphas, her Mates, the way their scents and Flames wrapped around her. "The accident on Halloween in 1981 that killed him? That was the same night he murdered my parents. And the accident happened when he turned his wand on me and his Avada Kedavra backfired and killed him instead of me," she said, the words flowing from her lips with more ease than she could ever have guessed.

Looking up revealed that Colonello and Reborn had the full scope of their attentions fixed solely on her. As if there was nothing more important than her, like there was nothing else that could even compare.

"When he came back," she continued quietly, "I knew I would always be on the top of his kill-list."

"You weren't just fighting, you were actively hunted," Reborn said neutrally, and his rage at the thought of the threat to his Sky was only betrayed by the pallor of his skin and the tense set of his shoulders.

A low, protective snarl escaped Colonello when Harry nodded.

"I killed him. Last May. That's what Andy was talking about; the memorial. I'm- I'm famous in the Wizarding World," she managed a weak, humourless smile even as her stomach clenched and seemed to drop down to the region of her navel. "They call me- It's ridiculous, but they call me the Witch-Who-Won nowadays." She rolled her eyes in an attempt at levity that fell entirely flat.

After a long stretch of heavy silence, Reborn shifted them around until he could tuck Harry into the small space between him and Colonello, backs against the wall.

"You're a war-hero," Colonello whispered hoarsely. "You were the enemy's main target."

"I was-" Harry hesitated a little as she tried to figure out how to explain this properly, "A sore point to Voldemort. He had tried to kill me so many times without succeeding it was a matter of pride. And that didn't even take the prophecy into consideration." She added the last sentence in a quiet, distasteful mutter.

Reborn growled and clenched his fingers around her hand, careful not to make it hard enough to hurt.

"There are real prophecies, cora?" Colonello asked slowly, voice still hoarse and distant, as if half of him was lost in thought.

"Yeah," Harry laughed bitterly. "This one was was self-fulfilling. The only reason it came true was because Voldemort believed in it."

"You're famous for killing him? Voldemort." Reborn asked, though it sounded more like a statement.

"Yes, but it's a bit more complicated than that," Harry reluctantly admitted. Honesty in relationships was supposed to be important, so. "I've been famous since I was one, since the first time Voldemort tried to kill me. But more than that, I am famous for being the first ever person to survive the killing curse. Twice." Harry could feel her lips pull down in a grim frown, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Her Alphas remained perfectly motionless for a long few seconds, until Harry made herself turn her head and look at them in turn.

Colonello was scowling into the distance, jaw clenched and a furious glint in his normally cheerful blue eyes.

Reborn, on the other hand, was entirely blank. As if he felt nothing.

That was very far from the truth; Harry could feel it. Through their Mating bond or Harmonization, she wasn't sure, but she could feel the churning emotions warring for dominance within him, even though none of it was visible on his face.

The fingers around her right hand twitched once before Reborn released it to slip one hand under her shirt to splay over the scar on her chest. Without a word, his Flames washed over her, as if wanting -needing- to check every inch of her. To make sure she was really alive and perfectly healthy.

Harry smiled sadly and relaxed against Colonello's shoulder. Reborn's Flames were very soothing and reassuring and worked better to relax her than anything else had since she had woken up.

"I'm sorry for Andromeda today," Harry eventually said into the silence. "For being so openly mistrustful." She explained at Colonello's questioning noise.

"No worries, cora," he said, beginning to sound more like himself. "Alphas should always be careful around Omega with children." He shrugged a little. "And we're both perfect strangers, cora. Perfectly understandable."

Harry hummed an acknowledgement. "And George?" She didn't think she'd have to elaborate more than that to make them understand what she meant.

"You're his Sky just as much as you're ours," Reborn said, speaking up for the first time in almost ten minutes. "He's not Flame Active, but that doesn't mean you haven't bonded." He was silent for a long moment, and Harry could feel that there was more, so she didn't say anything. "When his twin died last May," Reborn began, "he came _very_ close to Discord."

Colonello stiffened beside her and Harry turned to meet Reborn's gaze properly.

"Discord?" She asked quietly, seriously, an apprehensive chill crawling up her spine.

"There are basically three types of people; Active, Inactive and Latents," Reborn explained neutrally. "A Sky can bond with all three, but a bond with a Latent will be weaker than the bond with an Inactive, which will be weaker still than the bond with an Active." He paused shortly, before pressing on. "George's Inactive Flames are fractured. Harm someone's Flames beyond repair and they will basically lose their minds and self-destruct, usually taking everything and everyone around down with them as they go. We call it Discord."

"You said," Harry began after a long pause to digest Reborn's words, "You told me that Flames are the soul, the essence of who and what you are."

"That's the theory."

"Will he be okay?" Harry asked frantically, ignoring the light-headedness that made the room lurch slightly when she got out of her comfortable seat to turn around and stare intently at her Sun. "Is he still at risk of going into that, that Discord-thing?"

"The wound has been on the mend for a while now, but I've been encouraging the process all throughout the day," Reborn answered calmly, eyeing her with approval. "If he stays close the rest of the weekend, that will be even better."

"He will," Harry said firmly, before her resolve faded back into worry again.

"Being bonded with a Sky helps," Reborn continued. "He must have been very close with his twin to be so damaged by his death, but having the bond with you most likely acted like a stabilising agent."

Harry paled again, because she had _left_! She had left George behind to go on her stupid vacation, and what if he had actually lost his mind? Everyone had been so worried about him, because it had felt like George had lost part of himself together with Fred and he hadn't gotten better in so long all of them had been terrified he might end up joining his brother in the afterlife before he finally began to improve.

"Bonds -whether they are full Harmonization or not- are not impacted much by distance. Just because you're not there right beside him does not mean you're no longer his Sky," Reborn said firmly, having correctly guessed where Harry's thoughts had wandered. "All Elements want to be close to their Sky, but being separated by no matter how much distance won't directly harm us."

Harry let out a slow, shaky breath and nodded. "Good to know."

"George is one of the most likeable Mists I've ever met, cora." Colonello said, slowly reaching out to pull Harry back into the seat between him and Reborn. "I like all of your bonded Elements so far," he added with a small smile.

Harry blinked. "I have more?" She asked, more to herself than Colonello.

"I think you know who they are if you just think about it," Reborn said, slowly beginning to relax beside her.

And she realised that she probably did. Hermione and Ron were certain, then Ginny, George...

"Luna too, right?" She frowned slightly. She felt like there was a distinct difference to the 'bond' between her and Luna compared to the rest of their friends, though.

"Ah, Miss Lovegood," Reborn said, amusement colouring his voice. "Now, _that_ is one peculiar Mist. Almost entirely polarized, I think."

"So Luna and George are both Mists?" Harry tried to clarify, fully aware that neither of her Mates had yet to properly answer her question.

"It's rare to have two Mists under the same Sky; they're generally pretty possessive, cora. And if what I've gathered is true, then you had _three_."

"Luna feels like a decidedly Cloudy Mist, too," Reborn smirked a little. "You have such interesting friends, my dear."

Harry sighed exasperatedly. "Either of you going to explain what all that means anytime soon, or do you want me to guess?"

"Mist Flames' property is 'construction' which means illusions, mostly. They also tend to be assholes on a good day," he smirked amusedly as Colonello grumbled under his breath.

"And Clouds?" Harry asked, feeling vaguely amused.

"Propagation. Which can be a bitch to be up against in a fight," Colonello complained. "They're also complete bastards ninety five percent of the time."

"Clouds are the second rarest Flames, after Skies, and tend to be a bit... _quirky_." Reborn interjected with a smirk at Colonello, who grimaced. "They tend to be highly independent and are a bit peculiar about other people ordering them about. They're also prone to establishing Territories for themselves, which may vary from anything between places, cities and people. A balanced, content Cloud is usually referred to as 'serenely' or 'nobly' drifting."

Harry tilted her head, absorbing Reborn's impromptu lecture. "Some of those things definitely sounds like Luna. Or at least parts of it." It made her think of Ginny, too. "What about the rest of my friends; what Flames do they have?"

"Hermione is a solid Lightning. It's pretty entertaining, actually," Reborn said casually, making Harry wonder what was so funny about Lightnings in particular. "Ron feels like a Rainy Storm, and Ginny is most definitely a _very_ Cloudy Storm."

"Storm was the red Flame, wasn't it?" Harry murmured as she thought back on the few lectures Reborn had given her about this. He had always focused mostly on Sky Flames, for obvious reasons, but he had also gone into tangents about his own and Colonello's Flames too on occasion. "Lightning was Green, Cloud... purple? And Rain is blue." She sent a quick smile Colonello's way at that.

"Luna also happens to be Active, which means the two of you are Harmonized, rather than just bonded," Reborn added, as an afterthought.

"Oh," Harry blinked. "So she's my," she hesitated slightly, "Mist, then?"

Reborn and Colonello both nodded.

"It's a bit creepy that you have two Cloudy Elements under the same Sky that get along so well." Colonello muttered, as if to himself. "I didn't think they liked to share, cora."

"Ginny and Luna are very close friends." Harry said with a shrug. She didn't think there was anything strange about it.

"Feeling up to trying to go back to sleep?" Reborn asked after a few seconds' peaceful silence.

Harry realised that she had almost forgotten everything about the nightmare, but still hesitated. She usually hadn't been able to sleep afterwards, but that had been before she started sleeping next to her Alphas. Her Elements? Which one should come first? Alpha Elements?

"I can try," she finally settled on, pushing the confusing thoughts to the side and sliding down until she was lying on the mattress.

She waited until her two Mates had followed suit and then tugged them as close as physically possible, burying her face in Colonello's shoulder and feeling Reborn curl his arms around her middle, pulling her back flush against his chest.

-x-x-x-

For breakfast the next morning, Harry didn't bother to get dressed beyond pulling on a pair of sweatpants.

Her hair was probably a mess, but she frankly didn't give two Knuts. She may have managed to go back to sleep after the friendly little reminder of her memories from the war, but that didn't mean she had magically regained the hours of lost sleep she had spent calming down afterwards talking to her Mates.

"Morning." Harry muttered in greeting, collapsing into a chair and slumping over the table.

"Slept well, dear?" Molly inquired with clear concern, and Harry didn't doubt that she was looking her over worriedly. She was too tired to lift her head and check, though.

"Meh," Harry grunted.

"That makes two of us," George said, slumping into the seat next to her and leaning most of his weight on Harry.

Someone patted her head a few times and she wasn't interested enough to figure out if it had been Ginny or Luna to spend any time thinking about it.

Ginny's amused snort made her suspect it had been Luna, though. The redhead was honestly more likely to hit her with a tickling hex, thinking about it.

"Where's Dark and Handsome and your Golden-Retriever?" Ginny asked, the smirk audible in her voice.

Harry grunted unintelligibly at the same time as Reborn's deep voice responded with: "Right here," in a lazy drawl as he stepped into the kitchen.

Ginny squeaked quietly and Harry snorted against the table surface.

"I wanted to be Handsome," Colonello said mock-mournfully, even as he stole the remaining seat beside Harry. Which she didn't think Reborn was all that unhappy about, because that meant he could sit down beside George.

As the thought hit her, Harry focused on the part of herself that she had figured out were her Flames. It took a few seconds to orient herself once she had immersed herself in that part of her own mind, but it was relatively easy to poke gently at George with careful concern.

The moment her metaphorical finger made contact with him, George practically melted as every single tensed muscle in his body relaxed and unwound itself.

"George, you look like you're about to crush Harriet into the table, dear," Molly said, sounding worried but at the same time like she didn't want to interrupt when both of them were clearly so tired but relaxed.

George mumbled something unintelligible into Harry's shoulder, making no move to sit up properly anytime soon.

"Perhaps you should back off a little, son," came Arthur's concerned voice a beat later, and Harry didn't understand what he meant at first.

"No worries, cora!" Colonello piped up. "It's fine."

Oh, right. George was an Alpha, which should have pissed off her two Mates. Right. Better remember that.

Not that Harry would have been pleased with just any Alpha using her as a pillow. Other than her Mates she could think of two, possibly three, but... yeah, no. Two other Alphas other than her own.

She doubted Reborn and Colonello would be as relaxed with Blaise as they had been with George so far.

Feeling a little experimental, Harry used another 'finger' of her Flames and poked curiously where she knew Ginny and Luna were sitting.

Ginny let out a small, content sigh while Luna hummed happily.

"We must do this more often from now on, Harry," Luna declared dreamily, sounding far more satisfied than she usually did.

Smiling faintly -with one cheek smushed against the table, it was fairly awkward- Harry wrapped her Flames around Reborn and Colonello, too.

To keep things fair.

"You're all awfully lethargic this morning," Molly declared once she had put breakfast on the table, looking them all over with a slight frown Harry only caught a glimpse of from between the locks of hair draped over her face.

Colonello used a finger to carefully pull it back out of her eyes and gave her an amused grin while he was at it.

"Thanks," Harry said, before focusing back on the Weasley matriarch, who placed her hands on her hips.

"Why don't you all go outside for a while after we've eaten? I'm sure Colonello would be interested in seeing the paddock," the woman suggested with a smile at Colonello.

She had warmed up fairly quickly to the cheerful, energetic Rain and Harry wasn't surprised.

Harry inwardly perked up; she hadn't flown in _months_ and she'd love to let loose a little.

"What do you say, George? Feeling up for a quick game?" She asked, twitching one shoulder to nudge him gently.

"Sure," he mumbled, took a deep breath and then began the task of laboriously bringing himself into a vertical position.

George spent a few seconds just blinking blearily around the kitchen, before serving himself food seemingly on autopilot.

Harry sat up properly and began to fill her own plate with sausages, scrambled eggs and bacon. Grabbing a couple of slices of toast, she felt she was set and began to eat.

"How about you, Luna? Would you like to play?" Harry asked, turning to the girl, who was eyeing Harry with clear interest.

"I wouldn't mind to go flying for a bit," Luna replied calmly, spreading jam onto a slice of toast before biting into it, blinking expectantly at Harry. "As long as you don't expect me to do the death-defying stunts you call cruising."

Harry smirked a little, but inclined her head in acknowledgement.

When she glanced at Colonello, he looked like he could barely contain all the questions he no doubt wanted to ask.

Reborn raised a challenging eyebrow at her and Harry smiled.

"Well, I'm off to the Ministry. You lot have a nice day." Arthur smiled, getting to his feet and kissing his wife's cheek goodbye.

.

"Quidditch," Reborn repeated flatly, looking mildly disbelieving over Wizards' horrible naming sense.

"Quidditch," Harry confirmed with a grin. "For official games, you have seven players on each team, but since we're just four, we're doing a simple pick-up game with just one Bludger and no Snitch."

"Don't forget the Quaffle," Ginny added cheerfully, tossing the ball in question from hand to hand with practised ease while she waited for Harry to finish explaining and get on her broom. "Come on, Harry! Without you at Hogwarts, I haven't had any decent competition!" She added with a laugh, nudging her broom closer to where Harry was standing in front of Reborn and Colonello.

"We would've been on the same team," Harry countered with a snort before turning back to her Mates. "We could go watch a proper match if you'd like?" She suggested, to which Colonello nodded enthusiastically.

"I still can't believe you actually fly on _brooms,_ " was Reborn's only outward reaction, hilarity practically dripping from his voice.

"Don't forget the potions with newts' eyes and dragon liver, or the pointy hats and black cats," Luna added where she was swooping around them in lazy circles.

"Magical people tend to lean towards the ridiculous and or ostentatious; consider yourselves warned," Ginny concluded impishly.

"Are you going to show us these 'death-defying stunts' or not?" Reborn finally asked, slipping his hands into his pockets and strolling off to the side where he could find a spot to lie down and watch.

Harry grinned.

Getting her broom off the ground took barely a thought, and she had taken off after Ginny a second later, a wild laugh tearing out of her throat.

She had _missed_ flying!

Teaming up with George, she spent a lovely couple of hours flying to her heart's content.

No more than half an hour was spent on pick-up Quidditch, before Luna declared she'd had enough and returned to the ground to sit with Reborn and Colonello.

The last time Harry had thrown a glance that way, Luna had been amusing herself by conjuring up flowers and braiding them into wreaths to wear on your head, like colourful crowns.

Colonello had seemed to be chatting amicably with her, while Reborn looked like he was napping.

'Looked' because he was still wearing his fedora, so he may just as well be pretending while keeping an eye on Harry and listening in on the conversation going on next to him.

"Should we go down there?" Ginny asked, drifting close enough for them to talk without having to shout. The seemingly reckless game of tag they had amused themselves with for the last hour put either on hold or ended, depending on what they decided.

"What about you, George?" Harry asked, turning to the other redhead, who was drifting peacefully a little below her.

Answering her with a vague shrug, Harry realised that George would most likely go with whatever she wanted.

She couldn't say she was fond of the idea of George being so dependent on her, but it was certainly better than the alternative.

"I think I'd like to take a break; we can fly more tomorrow," she finally decided, talking mostly to Ginny, but made sure to include George as well.

"Missing your Alphas?" Ginny asked with an innocent smile that made Harry scoff playfully.

"More like I feel like I should rescue them before Colonello is covered in flowers from top to bottom," Harry shot back with a happy grin.

With those parting words, Harry dipped the front of her broom until it was pointing almost straight down and let herself fall.

In a steep, exhilarating dive, Harry rushed towards the ground with a gleeful whoop, not pulling up until her toes brushed the spring grass. Still laughing, she brought the broom to a stop in front of Reborn, Luna and Colonello, jumping off and practically collapsing onto Reborn without pause.

He didn't even grunt.

"How can you be so frustratingly annoying?" Harry asked mock-disapprovingly. She wasn't _that_ small! Or light!

Reborn lifted one hand to push up his fedora so that he could give her an amused look and a raised, pointed eyebrow.

Luna chose that moment to place one of her wreaths on Harry's head.

"I made that one for you, Harry," Luna informed her with a smile, already working on another one. "George, this one's for you." She plucked her wand from behind her ear and flicked it at one of the flower crowns, which lifted off the ground and floated over to George, where it settled gently on his hair.

"Thanks." His lips twitched into a brief smile as he slumped down to sit next to where Harry and Reborn were sprawled.

"Well. This is sickeningly sweet," Ginny said cheerfully when she joined them, looking from where Harry was using Reborn as her personal lounge chair to Colonello, who had flowers in his hair, around his neck and even winding around one arm.

"No need to be jealous, Ginny. I've made them for everyone," Luna chirped, holding up a wreath with white, blue and purple flowers that Ginny took with a smile. "And here's yours, Reborn," she said next, lifting up the one she had just finished.

Harry grinned and eagerly took the wreath, carefully running a finger over delicate yellow, white and dark red flower petals.

"I'm just gonna borrow this for a while," Harry murmured, plucking the fedora from Reborn's hair and plopping the flower wreath in its' place.

When she was satisfied with its position, she crossed her arms on his chest and leaned her chin on one forearm, smiling sweetly in the face of Reborn's blank stare.

"Lookin' good," she said, smile widening.

Colonello, evidently reaching the end of his rope, burst into laughter.

" _If the Vongola and the Cosa Nostra could see you now!"_ He wheezed with mirth, at least having the sense to revert to Italian. " _Your reputation would never recover, cora!"_

" _My reputation would remain the same if I so showed up in a dress the next time Timoteo asks for a meeting,_ " Reborn drawled back in the same language.

"Okay, that is hot," Ginny commented, looking from Reborn to Colonello and back again.

" _Colonello keeps insisting that you're supposed to be 'terrifying',_ " Harry said idly, switching to Italian for the moment to join in the conversation. " _Flowers wouldn't make much of a difference, I think."_

"And now it's just annoying," Ginny sighed disappointedly. "Do I really have to learn Italian, Harry? Is this how things'll be from now on?"

"It's important to better yourself, Ginny. A new language would do you well." Luna said, amusing herself by making the flowers in Ginny's wreath open and close at different intervals. With her wand raised, it looked like she was directing an orchestra.

"Sorry, sorry." Colonello laughed. "I'll try and stick with English, cora." He smiled apologetically at the rest of them.

Harry took the flower wreath from her head, inspected it a moment -orange, yellow, blue and purple flowers- before she carefully put it on Reborn's fedora; it settled perfectly against the rim, the yellow ribbon making for a nice backdrop.

Feeling satisfied, she put the hat on her head with a pleased hum.

" _Looking good._ " Reborn rumbled, repeating her earlier words back at her, if only in Italian.

Harry grinned up at him and relaxed in the spring sunlight, the quiet conversation of her friends washing over her.

Slipping one hand from under her chin, Harry reached out to take George's hand and closed her eyes, feeling perfectly at peace.

-x-x-x-


	14. Chapter 14

**So, it's been a while. I have been busy; got sucked into a new plot-line that I somehow cranked out more than 300 pages for in the span of a few months, so... ^^'**

 **Anyway, have a new chapter! *tosses update at you and then runs away***

 **Hold Your Head High**

 **Chapter 14**

Saturday, as if to make up for all the sun they'd gotten on Friday, was nothing more than pouring rain and harsh winds, beating against the Burrow's walls and windows.

It took about five seconds after she woke up for Harry to decide that today wouldn't be a very good day.

The fact that she felt like she had barely slept at all didn't really help, and her body felt like she'd been through a wringer.

She couldn't believe she could feel like this after just flying a little.

Harry knew she hadn't flown in a while, but how could her body betray her like this?

"Come on, sunshine. Time to get up," Reborn said, sounding insufferably amused.

Harry grumbled something indistinguishable into her pillow, but nonetheless held up one arm for the man to take hold of.

Reborn obligingly helped haul her into an upright position.

Blinking blearily at the room around her, it took her a few seconds to clear her head enough to come to the decision that the bed was more tempting than anything else this day had to offer.

Teddy's birthday wasn't until tomorrow.

She could stay in bed with a clear conscience.

Everyone else could deal.

"Oh, no, you don't," Reborn said.

And before Harry could do anything to defend herself, the stupid Alpha had lifted her clear off the bed.

"Reborn," Harry complained half-heartedly.

"Do you really want anyone to come looking for you in here?" He asked quietly, mouth close to her ear.

Harry snorted, disgruntled, but conceded the point.

Molly would be alright. She had been surprisingly accepting so far, and would probably not barge in on newly Mated Alpha and Omega.

Hermione was coming here today, though.

Ron might be able to keep her occupied for a while, if Ginny was willing to help -which she wasn't sure of- but Harry wasn't willing to bet on it.

"Urgh, fine," she relented, relaxing into Reborn's arms like a sack of flour. "Take me away, then," Harry waved a hand dramatically at the bed, from were Colonello was watching them with clear amusement.

"Bathroom?" Reborn asked idly, turning towards the door. "It's a pity this place doesn't have a pool, but I suppose with weather like this, walking outside would suffice."

"You better not," Harry grumbled. Reborn wasn't tossing her _anywhere_ if he knew what was in his best interests.

She could feel Reborn's amused rumble through his chest.

With insulting lack of effort, the man held her up mostly with one arm as he opened the door, manoeuvred her out into the hallway and then headed towards the bathroom.

Harry was perfectly content to just let her Mate cart her around like a piece of furniture, and was unconcerned enough to merely wave half-heartedly at George when she got a glimpse of him coming down the stairs from Ron's room.

The redhead blinked at her, before he shrugged and continued on his way. As if he had seen nothing out of the ordinary.

Harry was pretty sure no one else, bar Colonello, could have gotten away with carrying her like this without a good reason, though.

Once in the bathroom, Reborn put Harry down on her own two feet and then turned to the sink to brush his teeth.

Harry blinked blearily once or twice, and then tugged off her shirt to stagger into the shower. She stepped out of her panties and tossed them into the hamper before she turned the water on.

She knew Reborn was keeping an eye on her in the mirror, but she honestly didn't care or mind. It wasn't even in a leering kind of way; the man was looking at her as if he was concerned.

When she was done with her wash, Harry accepted the clean towel Reborn handed her, wrapped it around herself and stepped out of the shower.

"Thanks," she murmured, still feeling like she hadn't quite woken up yet.

Reborn sat on the closed toilet lid, watching her go through the motions. Drying her hair, brush her teeth.

"What was the dream about?" He asked once she was done.

Harry paused, staring into the sink where she had just rinsed her toothbrush.

"A memory," she finally said, putting her toothbrush away. "From when I was fifteen," she added.

Harry slowly turned around to look at Reborn properly. He hadn't gotten dressed yet either, wearing nothing more than the pyjama trousers he tended to wear to bed.

He even managed to make the toilet look comfortable.

Smiling wryly at her Mate, Harry leaned against the sink and crossed her arms over her chest.

Her dreams hadn't exactly been _nightmares_ this time, even though they had been far from pleasant.

Reborn raised one eyebrow a fraction, which she knew meant something along the lines of 'want to talk about it?'

"There was this woman, who came to work as one of the professors at school that year," Harry began, gaze turning distant. "She was a biased, arrogant, self-important bitch. But most of all, she had it out for me," she smiled bitterly.

"I've told you about how no one believe Voldemort was back at first. Which means that everyone was of the firm opinion that I was nothing more than an attention-seeking liar," she snorted. Ludicrous idea, really. "Anyway, Umbridge had certain... _views_ on Omegas, and I just, ticked all her boxes." She shrugged.

"What did she do?" Reborn asked calmly, looking deceptively relaxed and unconcerned.

"Oh, there's a list somewhere. She was on trial a while before I went to Italy," Harry frowned. "She had a vendetta against Muggleborns, too. Everyone who was different from her had to be controlled, beaten down and brought to heel," she paused a moment. "We never did get along."

"What did she do?" Reborn asked again, a tense undercurrent to his voice now.

Harry tilted her head and studied Reborn, who met her gaze without blinking. "She did a great many things, none of which I approved of then, and that I approve of even less now. The incident that brought this whole thing up was a spell she put on me."

Reborn's eyes darkened. Somehow.

His eyes were already black, but there was just something about them that made them surprisingly expressive.

The one time she had brought it up with her two Mates, Colonello had stared at her like he suddenly couldn't understand a word she was saying, while Reborn had looked amused.

"What kind?"

Harry snorted. "Believe it or not, a Chastity spell," she rolled her eyes a little. "She sat down every Omega in the castle to talk to us about propriety and the acceptable distance one ought to keep to any and all Alphas." She shook her head. "Just _that_ should tell you plenty about what she thought of us. Regardless, Umbridge never did like me. It didn't help that I refused to dance to her fiddle, so once she became desperate enough, she cooked something special up for me."

Reborn didn't move a muscle, but she could feel his Flames begin to unfold in the small space, curling protectively around her.

"It was quite a surprise to discover that I could no longer touch anyone of the opposite gender," Harry finished mildly, fists clenching.

Which was something of an understatement, and they both knew it.

The partial isolation, in addition to everything else that had happened that year, had been awful.

There had been a part of her that had been constantly tense, expecting the electric pain at any moment. Moving through the corridors had been a nightmare, for her and all the others suffering under the spell. The mental toll it had taken, living with the threat of acute pain anytime someone so much as accidentally brushed up against her had been... yeah.

Not fun.

Reborn growled softly.

Harry blinked out of her thoughts and smiled at him.

"It was a long time ago now."

Reborn snorted. "Yes, of course," he said sarcastically, and Harry shrugged.

It had been a long three years since then, even though the last one had been after the war was over.

"She's getting exactly what she deserves now, so I'm," she paused, considering it properly for a moment, "content."

Reborn rose to his feet with liquid grace, took the two slow steps that separated them and folded her into a possessive embrace.

"You," he said decisively, "are going to be the death of me."

"I sincerely hope not," Harry returned weakly, leaning her forehead against his chest.

She didn't need any more loved ones' deaths on her hands.

There was a knock on the bathroom door.

"Do I even want to know what you're doing in there?" Ginny asked exasperatedly, voice muffled through the wood, making Harry snort.

"Come one," she said, gently nudging Reborn until he let go of her. "Colonello's got to be wondering if I've drowned in the shower by now."

Reborn made an offended sound in the back of his throat, but let his arms fall from around her and unlocked the door.

As if he would ever let her drown.

The look on Ginny's face when she looked up to get an eyeful of a shirtless Reborn was enough to make Harry snort.

Reborn's answering smirk made her laugh.

.

"Feeling better?" George asked when Harry sat down at the kitchen table.

"Marginally," Harry shrugged and looked over the breakfast selection. After some deliberation, she grabbed a slice of plain toast and nibbled half-heartedly on it.

Reborn took one look at her and then stole her plate to put a small amount of scrambled eggs, two slices of beacon and a breakfast-muffin on it, before he put it back in front of her with a pointed look.

Harry sighed, but obligingly grabbed her fork and put some of the eggs on her perfectly acceptable toast.

She raised an eyebrow right back at him. "Happy now?"

"Ecstatic," Reborn drawled without missing a beat.

Colonello eyed Reborn and Harry in turn, but remained surprisingly quiet, busying himself with his own breakfast and distracting Ginny and Molly from focusing too much on Harry.

She whole-heartedly appreciated it.

"So what happens today?" Ginny eventually asked.

"Ron and Hermione are coming. She ought to have finished most of her meetings at the Ministry yesterday, so the rest of the weekend can be spent here," Harry replied absently, poking at the last, sad-looking scraps of scrambled eggs on her plate.

Without looking away from the copy of the _Daily Prophet_ he had gotten from Merlin knew where and was currently reading, Reborn pushed a cup of tea up to her empty hand.

Harry looked to the ceiling, but curled her fingers around the steaming cup.

"It's pretty calm at the shop this time of year, so we're leaving it to the employees," George added quietly, stirring his own tea in an absent-minded manner, his other hand supporting his chin, elbow planted on the table.

Which meant that Ron would be free to stay at the Burrow, too.

Which was very nice.

"They should be here before lunch," Molly said with a pleased sigh, wiping her hands on her apron. "Hermione told Arthur last night before he left the Ministry," she added at the questioning looks that got her.

"Well, I'm going back to my room for a while, then," Ginny said after some deliberation. She sent a questioning look Luna's way, but shrugged and got to her feet when the blonde merely smiled back.

Ginny wandered out of the kitchen a moment later, heading for the stairs.

"Are you all done, dears?" Molly asked next, smiling tenderly at Harry and George.

"Yeah. Thanks for the food," Harry nodded, trying not to feel bad for eating so little.

Molly cleared the table with the swish of her wand and Harry just about began to ponder what to do until Hermione and Ron got there when Colonello rose to his feet.

Harry watched him walk the short distance until he stood next to her chair.

The Alpha then pulled her chair a little away from the table, fitted his hands under her arms and lifted her out of her seat. With a pleased look on his face, Colonello held her close to his chest and walked in the direction of the sitting room.

Harry blinked in quiet surprise, but didn't feel up to acting offended.

Would this be a thing from now on? Carrying her around?

...did they _have_ to point out how small she was all the damn time?

Harry smiled faintly when Colonello sat down on the sofa, only to lie down almost immediately, making sure that Harry was draped comfortably over him, her head resting on his chest.

Letting out a content sigh, Colonello tightened the arms he still had wrapped around her waist and seemed settled down for the next couple of hours.

Shifting slightly, Harry propped her chin on his sternum and gave him a questioning look.

Colonello met her gaze, blue eyes calm and relaxed. He took a deep breath, making Harry's head rise together with his expanding ribcage, before he said anything.

"You slept poorly again, cora."

"Yeah," Harry returned, voice just as soft as Colonello's had been.

She glanced at the door when Luna wandered into the room, shortly followed by Reborn and George.

Colonello rubbed one thumb over her ribs in a soothing, repetitive manner. "I don't like it when you have bad dreams," he murmured. "Can't do anything about them, cora."

"You help," Harry assured him. "A lot."

Colonello hummed. "Wanna talk 'bout it?"

"Just memories from fifth year," Harry sighed, eyes slipping half-way closed.

"I'm not surprised to hear you have nightmares about Umbridge," Luna entered the conversation like a playful spring breeze.

George growled.

Harry blinked and glanced at George; she wasn't sure she had ever actually heard him growl like that before. Deep in his throat and threatening.

"That _bloody_ woman," George hissed darkly, eyeing Harry a moment, before slumping down in his seat and crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I hope she's miserable. She deserves to rot in Azkaban for the rest of her life."

Harry hummed an acknowledgement.

"That Chastity spell of hers was just awful," Luna said, a slight frown on her face. Her gaze sharpened a moment later and she turned to look at Harry. "I heard from a Hufflepuff Omega last year that you punched Malfoy while under it."

"He was harassing a thirteen year old. I could have knocked all his teeth out and he'd still have deserved it," Harry mumbled sleepily.

Colonello's steady breathing and the current company was doing wonders to make her relax.

"I'm not arguing with you, Harry," Luna said seriously. "I just want you to take your own safety into consideration. It was a lot of strain on the body."

"What, exactly, did this spell do to you?" Reborn asked pleasantly into the following silence.

Harry closed her eyes.

Damn.

"What was it you said? It felt like you was 'electrocuted'?" George asked Harry, voice dark and rough with a half-formed growl.

Colonello growled, the vibrations making it feel like her brain was rattling around in her skull.

"And it did so every time you touched a boy?" Reborn pressed on mildly.

Harry shivered; she could practically taste the threat hanging in the air in the wake of his words, even though none of it could be heard in his voice.

She hummed an affirmative.

"It sucked big time, but I will cherish the memory of you throwing tableware at Umbridge in the Great Hall until the day I die," Ginny said from the doorway to the kitchen, her voice sharp and dangerous. Just like the smile on her face.

Harry snorted.

"It was beautiful," Luna agreed with her Omega friend, back to sounding dreamy and vague now.

George just grumbled something unintelligible under his breath with a huff.

Colonello's grip on her tightened and Harry could feel Reborn's gaze on her skin.

With a deep sigh, she kept her eyes closed and attempted to go back to that lovely, relaxed doze she'd achieved a while ago.

.

Harry was making herself a cup of tea when the fireplace flared up green behind her.

"Hey," she smiled at Ron, who stepped out first, Hermione no doubt right behind him.

"Hi," Ron smiled, walking up to her and putting one hand on her shoulder, giving her a brief once-over. As if unable to stop himself from looking for injuries.

Never mind that the war had been over for almost exactly a year now, some habits were just too ingrained to let go of. She wasn't even sure Ron was aware of doing it.

"How are you?" Harry asked, gaze flicking towards the still-quiet fireplace. Had Hermione gotten delayed?

"I'm not the one whose been out of the country for the last four months," Ron said with a wry smile, looking into Harry's eyes. "But the shop didn't blow up while I was in it while you were gone, so that's always something, I suppose."

Harry snorted and pulled him into a hug. "George would never let the shop explode."

"True, that," Ron sniggered and squeezed her tightly for a second before he stepped away from her with a grin. "But seriously, though. How are _you_ , Harry?"

Harry blinked up at him. "I'm pretty well. Being back in Britain kicked my nightmares back into gear, but other than that," she shrugged, because what else was there to do? It wasn't like she _wanted_ to have nightmares. They wouldn't go away if she asked kindly.

"Hermione got a bit held up," Ron continued after a beat of silence. With a sigh, he sat down by the kitchen table, where Harry joined him. "It's a miracle if I can get her to remember to eat half the time, she's so busy."

"She loves it, though," Harry pointed out, before she lifted her steaming mug to her mouth to sip at her tea. "And it probably helps her sleep at night," she added quietly.

Harry and Ron's gazes met across the table.

After another bout of comfortable silence, Harry set her mug down. "You haven't said all that much since I came back," she started the conversation she knew had been brewing between them.

Ron gave an awkward shrug. "I don't really know what to say."

"You didn't talk to them at all, yesterday," Harry said quietly. She wasn't accusing him of anything, merely stating the facts.

She knew it had been a shock. She could understand.

"I just don't know what to think," Ron admitted uncomfortably, shrugging awkwardly and frowning down at the kitchen table. "I trust your judgement, but," he hesitated a moment, "it will take a while before I see for myself, okay?"

"I get it, Ron. I do," Harry assured him. "I just want you to give them an honest chance."

"I know, and I will. I'm sure they're great fellows," Ron said with a slight smile.

Harry frowned and opened her mouth to answer, but the fireplace flared up and Ron visibly perked up.

"Hermione's here," he smiled and got to his feet.

"Harry! Oh, hi, Ron," Hermione greeted, giving her boyfriend a quick kiss on the cheek before she turned back to Harry with a radiant grin. "It's so good to have you here. I've been so excited to finally get done with all work-related issues. It's going to be wonderful to celebrate Teddy's first birthday together with everyone tomorrow," she sighed happily, before taking a deep breath. "And I think it's for the best that Andromeda have plenty of people around her right now," she continued in a more hushed voice. "It wouldn't feel right for her to spend all her time in that house all alone with Teddy up until the Memorial."

Harry had to bite her tongue to keep from grimacing at the mention. "Andy's staying here for the next two weeks? Molly didn't mention it."

"Oh, yes," Hermione nodded seriously. "But then again, Molly's been working on convincing Andromeda about it all for the past, oh, two months?" Here, she paused to give Ron a questioning look.

Before the redhead could even begin to answer, the fireplace flared up again.

"Professor McGonagall," Harry said with a pleasantly surprised smile, watching the impressive witch step out of the flames and absently dust herself off. "I wasn't expecting to see you here until tomorrow. Will Hogwarts survive without you for the day?"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Harry. Hogwarts will still stand this evening, despite my absence," McGonagall replied primly, giving Harry a fond look. "And no more of this 'professor' business. Since you're no longer a student of mine, I insist you call me Minerva, my dear."

Harry couldn't help but smile. "You'll always be professor McGonagall to me, professor. I respect you too much."

"After everything we've experienced together, I've gathered," McGonagall _smiled_ at her.

Or, well, her lips definitely twitched with clear amusement. In a fond manner.

"Now," McGonagall continued briskly. "What's this I hear about you meeting someone?"

Harry had to bite her lip to try and keep herself from bursting out in laughter. Or tears. She wasn't sure.

"I've actually Mated. Pretty recently," she told the older woman, who raised one eyebrow a fraction.

"I take that to mean congratulations are in order," was McGonagall's only response and Harry loved her a little more for it. There were so many amazing people in her life.

"Yes, thank you. Come on; I'll introduce you!" She grinned so wide her cheeks hurt as she took McGonagall's hand and tugged it gently until the woman allowed herself to be towed towards the sitting room. "Reborn! Colonello! There's someone here you must meet!" She turned to face the room, which sadly meant she couldn't see McGonagall's expression, but Luna, Ginny and George had all looked up and were staring mutely at Harry and her companion. " _This!_ Is professor Minerva McGonagall," she stated grandly, watching as her two Mates both perked up.

"Ah," Reborn said softly, fluidly rising to his feet and walking towards them until he was standing right in front of Harry and McGonagall. "It's an honour to meet you, madam. I have heard a lot about you," he said, taking McGonagall's hand to squeeze it carefully between his own two, much larger ones. "Mostly good things," he added with a very small smile.

McGonagall, true to form, barely blinked. "A pleasure to meet you, young man. Reborn, was it? Unusual name."

"Professor McGonagall!" Colonello jogged up to them, coming as close to shoving Reborn aside as the dark-haired hitman would allow. "Harry has told us so much about you and I just want to say right away that I think you're an awesome old woman and I want you to like me!" Colonello grinned, looking like he wanted to fold McGonagall into one of his bear-hugs, but most likely refrained due to the woman's age and the cane she still used.

"Well," McGonagall said after a beat of silence, where Ginny and George were both snickering quietly in the background while Luna grinned.

Harry... tried not to smack a hand to her face.

"At least they seem like they're energetic and enthusiastic enough to be able to keep up with you, Potter," McGonagall said frankly, not even commenting on the fact that there were two of them and Harry hadn't said _which one_ was her Mate.

Harry gave her Head of House a small, sweet smile, even as she tried to ignore Reborn's smirk and the way she could feel Ron and Hermione hovering in the doorway behind her.

-x-x-x-

The morning of the big day, Harry was too busy to think much beyond greeting friends and talking to the guests that suddenly milled around the Burrow.

She'd lost track of her two Alphas a while back, but was peripherally aware of the fact that at least one of them was nearby at all times, in case she'd need them. She had no idea where Ginny, George or Ron and Hermione had gone off to.

Luna, on the other hand, seemed to have decided to stay close, today. Every time Harry turned around, Luna would be there, talking to someone, smiling encouragingly at Harry, drinking tea, reminding Molly to take a breather.

It was all very sweet. In an over-protective, slightly overbearing kind of way.

Nonetheless, Harry endured it with a smile.

Bill, Fleur and Charlie had just arrived and had almost immediately been swept up in Molly's caring embrace and then ushered into the sitting room, when a particular scent reached her and Harry perked up.

With a growing smile, she followed it outside, where she came upon,

"Neville!" Harry laughed and walked up to the Alpha to give him a hug. "It's so good to see you! How are you?" She asked, smiling into his shoulder.

It was obvious Neville had just arrived, and he looked rather tired, making her think he'd just gotten off work.

"Harry. It's nice to see you, too," Neville said, a smile in his voice as his arms came up around her. "It's been a bit strange without you here, to be honest."

"Shouldn't you be resting? I mean, you smell exhausted," Harry inquired mildly as she stepped away from him a little to be able to look up at his face.

Only for a familiar arm to snake around her middle and pull her out of Neville's grasp entirely until her back was pressed against Colonello's firm chest, feet dangling in the air.

Harry blinked a couple of times, trying to process what had just happened, before she was derailed by the sight of Neville's expression.

Her Alpha friend was tense and looked like he was about to bare his teeth. He wasn't growling, but she didn't know how long that would remain true.

The warning sound Colonello gave finally snapped her out of it.

"Whoa, okay!" She said, a fair bit louder than she probably had to with the way both Alphas instantly focused on her. "Calm down and stop gearing up for a fight. Right this instant," she fixed Neville with a stern frown, and then smacked Colonello on the arm when he gave a frustrated huff. " _I_ hugged _him_ , Colonello. And besides," she continued dryly, "he doesn't know yet."

"Fine," Colonello grumbled unhappily, arms tightening around her and his chin coming to rest on top of her head.

Harry sighed.

Once she was sure Colonello wasn't about to do anything unnecessarily stupid, she turned her attention back to Neville.

Who was eyeing Colonello with an intent, focused look that easily let her know her friend was prepared for a fight if it looked like Harry was the least bit uncomfortable.

"Neville, what do you say we sit down and talk a little?" She suggested, absently kicking Colonello in the shin to make him put her down. "There's plenty of food and I'll grab you a butterbeer, too," she offered with a smile.

Neville tore his eyes away from Colonello long enough to give her a short nod, before going back to observing the blond Alpha with terse attention.

Harry sighed, looked around for Reborn, who -as if he had been summoned- appeared from the house.

Without Harry having to say a word, he assessed the situation, grabbed Colonello by the shirt and hauled him away in the direction of Luna, who had been watching it all with far more amusement than was really necessary.

Harry sighed.

"Come on," she said, grabbing Neville's hand and towing him away, aiming for one of the scattered picnic tables Molly had arranged all throughout the garden.

Once they were seated and Neville actually looked to have calmed down, putting the bottle of butterbeer Harry had handed him on the table, he eyed her carefully. "So," he prompted. "You're not half as livid as I would have thought," he commented evenly, tilting his head in the direct Reborn had hauled Colonello.

Harry felt her lips twitch with wry amusement. "I've had an interesting few months since I left for Italy," she said idly, feeling far more amused now that no one looked to be trying to kill anyone else on her behalf.

Neville snorted and gave her a dry look. "I went to school with you, Harry. Every year, I was there," he pointed out, one eyebrow rising a fraction.

Harry scowled playfully at him. "Are you saying I can't have a nice, calm vacation?" She demanded with mock-outrage.

"I'll believe it the day I see it," her friend returned lightly, slowly relaxing further.

Harry smiled at him and decided to get to the point. "So, the blond you just met is my Alpha," she said casually, taking a sip of her own butterbeer. "His name is Colonello, he's Italian, and I am very fond of him." She studied Neville's steadily widening eyes with growing interest. "I'd like it if you got along, but I'll settle for there to just not be any fights."

Neville stared at her for a long minute.

His shock slowly transitioned into thoughtful pensiveness as he digested the news, clearly trying to assimilate it.

"And the other bloke?" He finally asked, gaze sliding back in the direction Reborn and Colonello had disappeared, and it was obvious who he meant.

Harry paused momentarily, before she awkwardly cleared her throat and peered up at the cloud-dotted sky. "Also my Alpha," she muttered quietly.

Neville made a small, incredulous and amused sound that drew Harry's attention. When she chanced a look at him, he was staring at her with wry amusement and growing hilarity.

"Both of them?" He asked.

"Both of them," Harry confirmed with a helpless, slightly sheepish grin.

Neville actually laughed, shaking his head. "Only you, Harry," he snickered, prompting Harry to crumple up a napkin and toss it at him.

"It wasn't something I planned," she muttered lowly, though she still couldn't wipe the grin off her face, no matter how bashful she might feel.

Neville snorted. "As far as I've understood it, your plans have a tendency to go pear-shaped anyway," he grinned.

Harry stuck her tongue out at him. "Do you think you can get close to them without going all Alpha again? I'd really like to introduce you," she inquired. "Properly," she added dryly.

Neville eyed her, considering, a moment, amusement still making his eyes shine. "How long since you Mated?" He asked.

"It's pretty resent," she admitted, not feeling half as awkward discussing this with him as she might have guessed.

Neville nodded. "Then I suppose I can forgive him," he relented easily, getting to his feet and waiting for Harry to follow suit.

Harry smiled gratefully at him, jumped to her feet and then tracked down her two men, Neville following at her heels with a small, fond smile on his lips and his hands in his pockets.

.

As the day progressed, people came and went, most of them taking care to seek out Andromeda to exchange a few words.

Seeing as Teddy was a bit young to really appreciate any kind of party, it was mostly an opportunity for all of them to catch up and spend a few hours together with friends and family, if only with the added cake and presents.

The near-disaster between Neville and Colonello had been smoothed over and Harry felt like this day might actually turn out alright.

She'd just settled down with a plate of food in the kitchen when Ron and Hermione joined her.

Harry sent them a glance and a quick smile, before focusing back on her food, preoccupied by something she'd seen a few minutes earlier.

She might have interfered, but... Harry really didn't want to make things worse. If Bill wanted to pull her two Alphas aside for a talk, then. Well, she figured it might just be best not to get involved.

For now.

"Harry, can we talk?" Hermione asked, pulling her attention back to the present.

"Of course," Harry said, blinking at her friend. Since when had they ever needed to ask?

"About your Alphas, mate," Ron clarified, clearly having seen the confusion on her face.

"Oh." Harry blinked again, and slowly put down her fork. "What about them?"

Hermione sent Ron a brief glance, before she focused back on Harry and she looked anxious. "I don't want you to get upset, but I just," she took a deep breath, firmed her jaw, determination all but oozing off of her. "There are some things that need to be said, I think," she finished.

Harry stared expectantly at her. She got a distinct feeling that, while Ron was fully supportive of his girlfriend in this, it was still mainly Hermione's concerns.

"You haven't even known them four months, Harry," her friend said firmly, a frown pulling on her brows. "Less than that at the time you Mated," she added, shifting uncomfortably at the mention of that particular subject. "What do you really know about them? I don't like this. It's uncharacteristic of you to jump head-first into something like this where Alphas are concerned."

Harry leaned back in her chair, gaze sliding over to Ron, who shrugged and grimaced but ultimately nodded his agreement.

"You've never showed any inclination to let any Alpha so much as hug you, Harry," he pointed out quietly. "Something just doesn't feel right."

Harry frowned, because that was just not true. "What does that make George?" She asked neutrally. "Blaise?" _Neville_?

"That's not the same, and you know it," Hermione huffed impatiently. "And," she bit her lip a moment, before pressing on, "there's just something... not right about Reborn," she said. "Colonello is very obviously smitten with you, and he makes an effort, but Reborn is distant and aloof, like- like _Malfoy_ was in school."

The comparison made Harry bristle.

Taking a deep breath, Harry very deliberately didn't open her mouth, and instead waited for her two best friends to finish saying what they felt they had to.

"It's like he doesn't _care_ , and I never thought you'd Mate with someone like that," Hermione finished flatly, eyeing her intently. "Are you- You know you can tell us if you're in trouble, right?"

Harry gritted her teeth and her resolve to stay quiet strained and cracked, before snapping entirely.

"It's not like the two of you have made any kind of effort to get to know them," she hissed quietly, fighting to keep her voice down even as she struggled with her temper. "You haven't even been here to _observe_ ," she pressed on, spitting out the word, because she knew fully well that was what they had been doing the hours they'd actually spent together in the last few days. "I don't see where this is coming from! You were perfectly happy for me when I first told you about this!" She added, staring at Hermione, trying not to feel hurt.

"I know, and I was," Hermione hurriedly assured her, looking conflicted. "It's just- I've thought a lot about it, and it just doesn't- _four months_ , Harry!" She exclaimed, frustrated. "And Reborn doesn't even act like he _cares_ about you!" She huffed.

"So you think I'd just grab the first Alpha I found and let him claim me like some sort of possession?" She hissed, incensed, because that was what it sounded like Hermione was getting at. "For no obvious reason?"

"No!" Ron exclaimed, looking aghast.

"Well, what are we supposed to think, Harry?" Hermione fired back, powering through whatever it was Ron had been about to say, looking like she was getting worked up, too.

"You're _supposed_ to trust me! You're supposed to know me better than anyone!" Harry growled, absently noting that she'd risen to her feet

"We do!" Ron hurried injected before Hermione could open her mouth again. "We trust you, we care about you. We just want to be sure you're happy," he said, sincere and worried and a whole host of things that made it difficult to stay mad at him if she thought about it for too long.

"Do you know what would have made me happy, Ron?" Harry asked in a deceptively calm voice. "My two best friends making the _effort_ to at least _try_ to get to know my Mates. Maybe ask them why they wanted to Mate with me, or just _talk to them long enough to get a basic feel for their personalities!_ " She growled and stalked off before she could say something she'd come to regret.

She needed to put some distance between them and work off the worst of her temper.

Harry stalked out of the house, ignored the guests milling around the Weasleys' garden and headed for the orchard.

A walk sounded like a good idea.

-x-x-x-


End file.
